Life before the wilderness
The milk and honey comes after, not before, the wilderness experience (Numbers 14:3-4)
My first reflection about our wilderness experience defined the wilderness as a difficult, inhospitable, disorienting, and sometimes even dangerous place we pass through on our way to something better. Last week, I encouraged you to think of times in your own life characterized by confusion, uncertainty, conflict, or bewilderment.
For the Israelites, getting through the wilderness to “something better” was the promised land. For us, it may involve a better business, improved family relationships, a renewal of our spirit, or a refreshed perspective on the next chapter of our lives.
But what about the period before the wilderness? How do you remember your life before entering into this darker phase of life? What was happenning in your life, in your business, or in your family, before entering this challenging time? The Israelites, frightened and unsure of the promised land and the people they would find, wondered if they should return to slavery in Egypt:
Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” (Numbers 14:3-4)
As much as Israelites were in pain and bondage in Egypt, they knew that pain. Life before the wilderness was hard, but they were surviving. Comparing their past to their current hostile environment and an uncertain future, they contemplated going back.
Maybe the time before the wilderness phase of your life was all good, full of positive relationships and fulfilling roles. For many, however, the time before the wilderness had some element of frustration or dissatisfaction. Something that needed to change or become better. A spiritual, psychological, family, or business status quo that was — when assessed honestly — unsustainable.
The Israelites were in slavery to the Egyptians, just as we are bound to certain conditions before our wilderness experience. At times the pain we know seems more safe than our uncertainty or fear about the future.
What was your life like before a period of wilderness? As you reflect on that time, can you see parts of your life, business, family, or spiritual journey that were in need of a change?