Recently, in my Tuesday morning Men’s group, we viewed a video by author Tim Keller. He was talking about the journey of the Israelites to the promised land and pointed out that there were two distinct groups of people.
The first group of people were those who left the slavery of Egypt. They saw the magnificent power of God as He parted the Red Sea, gave them food and water in the wilderness, and led them safely to Mt. Sinai. But then when it came time to take the land that God had promised, the people were afraid and did not trust in the Lord who had taken care of them since day one. As a result, demonstrating that they were not ready to inherit the land He had promised them, they were left to wander in the wilderness for 40 years.
Basically, God was waiting for the generation who did not trust Him, to die off and the promised land would be given to the next generation of Israelites who would trust Him to lead them to safety in their new home.
I wonder where we find ourselves today? Are you marking time, simply existing to focus on ourselves while the world comes apart at the seams – leaving any meaningful dialog and action to the next generation? Are we simply wandering in our own designs, or are we willing to do the work of thinking, acting, and engaging, in order to make a difference and have an impact on our culture now? It is easy to get complacent, but I submit that we are called to live lives that honor God and impact people until the very end. So, maybe we need to ask ourselves – am I simply a wanderer in the wilderness, or am I going to cling to and trust my God who holds my future? I’d love to know your thoughts.