When The Promise Land Doesn't Look.....So Promising!

The Lord had promised to bring the Israelites into the Promised Land He had promised to their ancestors. This is a land described as: 

"A good land of flowing streams and pools of water, with fountains and springs that gush out in the valleys and hills. It is a land of wheat and barley; of grapevines, fig trees and pomegranates; of olive oil and honey. It is a land where food is plentiful and nothing is lacking. It is a land where iron is as common as a stone, and copper is abundant in the hills" (Deuteronomy 8:7-9)

I don't know about you, but that is a land that sounds more than good. Just reading about it gives me such a sense of peace and security, knowing that the plans God has for me are truly what He says, plans to prosper me and not to harm me (Jeremiah 29:11) I can just see myself in this land dancing with the Lord as He takes hold of my very hand and holds on tight, because although it's the Promised Land...there's about to be some HUGE giants I WILL need to face!

God told the Israelites their time circling around Mt. Sinai was over, it was time to peace out and get a move on. So, they obeyed and left mount Sinai. Normally, the hard part is leaving all that you know to be brought into something new, while the easy part is receiving the blessings of God like a little kid in a candy shop, however it was different for the Israelites. When God told them to leave their lives at Mt. Sinai, no problem they left. When God told them to enter into a plentiful land of milk and honey where nothing would lack or run out, they refused to enter. Why would ANYONE ever pass up an offer like that?

Deuteronomy 1:21 "Look! He has placed the land in front of you. Go and occupy it as the Lord, the God of your ancestors has promised you. Don't be afraid! Don't be discouraged!"

Alright, so...this awesome land God had placed right in front of them...all they had to do was MOVE IN to their new place, into the new land they were blessed with, but they decided instead to check it out first and spy. They sent out some scouts to explore the land and the scouts came back even reporting it was a good land....but hold on cause' houston we have a problem! Ever know that God was elevating you? He was moving you from one place to the next? He was moving your spiritual address and all of a sudden everything seemed to go haywire? Recently I have had that happen to me, and although I am not at my final "Promised Land" I am in a season where God is doing some new things, and with those new things came some new giants I sure wasn't expecting. Sometimes the promises God makes don't look so promising. These times are a test of faith where God is asking...I promised you this but it doesn't look the way you expected it to look, do you still trust me? Do we still trust the promises of God even when they don't look so promising? Maybe that is why God tells us walk by faith and not by sight, because our vision has a way of deceiving us. We don't see what God sees. He see's us conquering the giants we face with a slingshot and rock as David conquered Goliath. (1 Samuel 17:49) As soon as we face a problem, we start running from what God has called us to do. God was calling the Israelites to move forward, to enter into a great land. But they couldn't believe beyond what they could see...

What situation is happening in your life that is hard to see past? Can you see yourself on the other side of victory? Can you see yourself relying on the strength of God to overcome? Make sure you are seeing things with faith and not with fear. Fear has a way of crippling us and I will be the first to tell you. There are times I have missed out because of fear, there are times where I have almost missed out because of fear and it's not a fun place to be. Fear is one of the most deceiving schemes of the enemy because it just seems so real, but fear is really False Evidence Appearing Real. 

One of my sisters in Christ today said this:
 "...the only way to capture fear is to become knowledgable about what makes us afraid" (Jenny Geffrard)

 Make sure to check out her blog! <--- click HERE

So, the Israelites grew fearful and began to sink. They began to doubt and question God and even ACCUSE him for bringing them into this land saying that God must hate them. Ahhhh, wait what?!

"....The Lord must hate us. That's why he has brought us here from Egypt - to hand us over to the Amorites to be slaughtered" (Deuteronomy 1:27) So, God brought them out of slavery, delivered them and then they accused God of hating them because they faced some problems. But...how many times are we just like the Irsaelites? Things are going well, then we face a problem and all of a sudden we start blaming God instead of trusting God. I know there are times where I have been there, even though Jesus promises us that in the world there will be trials and tribulations (John 16:33) Well, the Israelites ended back up in the wilderness...stuck in the middle. They were not longer enslaved in Egypt, but they refused to enter the Promise Land which the bible actually says is rebellion (Deuteronomy 1:26). It's rebellion to not pick up what God is putting down. It's rebellion to not receive what He wants to give you. This is a good moment to thank Him that He doesn't treat us as our sins deserve!

As we come to an end...this is what gets me the most!

 Ezekial 20:6 "I took a solemn oath that day, that I would bring them out of Egypt to a land I had discovered and explored for them - a good land, a land flowing with milk and honey, the best of all the lands"

Before God brought them into this land, He Himself EXPLORED it. To explore means: to travel through a land or place in order to learn about or familiarize oneself with it. God went before them and explored this land and made sure it would be safe for His beloved CHOSEN children to live there. God wasn't going to place them in danger. Beloved, God loves you SO much that He goes before you and checks out every new thing He is bringing you into. He has already checked out that place He is moving you to, so when He says to go in and occupy that Promised Land and you see some giants, let us decide together that we will choose to trust God beyond what we see. God has already discovered and explored your land. He is calling us to trust Him in our circumstances that regardless of what we see, He will make a way.

Love,
Beth


Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for your promises. Please help me to believe beyond what I can see even when the Promise Land doesn't look so promising. Give me the faith to trust you as I step out where my feet could potentially sink. Thank you for caring about me and keeping watch over me. Thank you for discovering and exploring the land you have called me to. In Jesus name, Amen.