Wandering, Wastes of Time, & the Wilderness
Dear church,
“I can’t wait for things to go back to normal.”
Have you found yourself saying that recently? Maybe to yourself, to your spouse, out loud in the car when you’re running errands, or maybe even during a solitary moment of prayer before God Almighty?
Truth be known, I’m not sure we’ll ever ‘go back to normal.’ Libby and I gathered our things on our way to have an early lunch date a couple of weeks ago and before I left the office to meet her there I went through the normal checklist: keys, wallet, and a mask. That last item was never even a consideration before March of last year. But here we are a full year and a half after COVID-19 became a household world and we still are carrying our masks. What we thought was temporary has now prolonged into an indefinite timeline.
I’ve thought a lot about Moses and the children of Israel over the last year and a half. And when my mind would think of them, I would characterize their time in the desert after their exodus from Egypt as their period of ‘wandering’ and a ‘waste of time’. They were to enter the promised land as God had foretold and instead they wandered and wasted their time. They could have entered the promised land in about two weeks on a direct route, but instead they wandered and wasted their time. They had the promises of God right in front of them and instead of claiming those promises, they wandered and wasted their time. Moses and the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness. They wasted their time. Or did they?
‘Wandering’ is defined as traveling aimlessly, leisurely, or casually from place to place.
It appears that my description of the children of Israel might be correct, right? Sadly no. I was wrong in characterizing their period in the wilderness as wandering (I’m wrong a lot actually!). The forty years they spent in the wilderness was actually a master class in experiencing the presence of God – quite the opposite of wandering, actually. They experienced the presence of God. While it seemed like they didn’t make much progress on their journey to the Promised Land they actually gained invaluable time experiencing the presence of God. What they lost in miles towards the Promised Land they gained in deep, significant, meaningful moments in the presence of God.
The wilderness was not a waste of time. It was a genuine opportunity to experience the presence of God. Think about what unfolded during their time in the wilderness:
They were fed by manna and quail provided by God Almighty
They drank water that was provided from a rock
The Lord revealed Himself at Sinai
The Ten Commandments were provided
They entered into a covenant relationship with God Almighty
They observed the Sabbath for the first time and rested in God
They built and completed the tabernacle
God guided them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night
He never left them.
He didn’t forget them.
In short, they experienced the presence of God.
The presence of God prepared them for what was next.
Nothing was wasted. It simply prepared them for what was next…the Promised Land. By the time we get to the book of Joshua we see a group of people that were once itinerant and now united. They were once in despair and defeated in the wilderness, and now they are victorious claiming the Promised Land.
No doubt we are living a period of time that we wish would go back to normal.
No doubt we are living a period of time that often seems like wasted time.
No doubt we are living a period of time that seems like we are just wandering.
But make no mistake: this period of time has been gifted to us to experience the presence of God.
And the presence of God will prepare us for what’s next. We cannot waste this season. We cannot allow our desire for what was ‘normal’ to distract us from God’s presence today.
Intentionally, how will you experience the presence of God today?
For those of you who are local, we are excited to gather at Stewart Park for Church in the Park. It’s going to be a beautiful time of worship, devotion, communion, a great meal shared with one another, and together we’ll experience the presence of God. We’ll be meeting under the pavilion at Stewart Park at 10:30 AM. See you Sunday!
Until then,
Pastor Daniel
(In upcoming issues of ‘Dear church’ I’ll discuss vacations, faith & fear)
