In the Desert

The Hebrew title for the Book of Numbers has nothing to do with numbers, and everything to do with the journey-In the Desert. Consider these words :

So often, when God places a call on one of His children, it requires a separation between the old life and the new life. There is a time of being away from the old in order to prepare the heart for what is coming. It can be a painful and difficult separation. Joseph was separated from his family. Jacob was sent to live with his uncle Laban. Moses was sent to the desert. The Hebrew word for "Holy" can also mean separate. What do you think that's all about, this connection between holiness and separation? When you mix all the paints on your palate together, the resulting colour is dull and muddy. Music only works when musicians limit themselves to playing in the same key and at a designated tempo. And, you must certainly want to keep the cows out of the cornfield and the children out of traffic. The safety, order, and beauty of our world can depend entirely on observing proper boundaries. Much of the language of faith today assumes that separation is bad and that unity is good. But when God begins a deeper work in our own lives, it may require a separation from all we have known before. He has removed all that I had placed confidence in up to this point. It has been very painful and very scary. My present situation in life is hardly secure. I struggle every day to do the job, cooking on the line. I continue to fail and make mistakes on a daily basis, but the picture is getting clearer, and I now know that this part of the journey has been, and continues to be necessary. Like the title of the blog, "Sometimes the journey is the destination."

Perhaps God has placed you in your own desert period. Perhaps you cannot make sense of the situation in which you find yourself. Press into God during this time. He will reveal the purposes He has for you. The key is pressing into Him. Seek Him with a whole heart and He will be found. God may have a special calling and message He is building in your life right now. Trust in His love for you that He will fully complete the work He has started in you.