Copyright ©2018 by The Good Elder. All rights reserved.
Humans tend to fear the unknown, but how uncomfortable must the "known" become before we willingly go forward? This sentence summarizes recent musings, which expanded to the following message.
Many people suffer from a fear of flying, but its convenience with respect to travel (especially over long distances) often compels these people to press on through their fear in order to get to where they want or need to go. The choice is clear: succumb to fear and not go (or take an unnecessarily long time to get there), or just get on the plane and pray for a safe flight! Of course, in the vast majority of cases, the flight goes off without any problems.
Many people, especially non-swimmers, are wary of getting on a boat. However, between their favorable value-per-vacation-dollar and the compelling advertisements, some of these people find themselves taking cruises anyway. The multitude of activities distract them, the ports of call beckon them, and the abundance of good food and drink satiates them. But, every now and then, they catch a view of the unending sea, or feel a small sway in the ship, and they may experience a moment of fear or trepidation.
There is a certain committment that such travelers must make, because once the plane or ship sets out, the person has to endure until the flight or cruise is over. But, each and every day, thousands of people put their fears aside to reach their destinations.
When it comes to spiritual growth, many of us find this leap of faith to be much more difficult to make. Unlike with physical destinations, most of us don't have a clear idea, concept, or experience about what the Promised Land is like. There are no advertisements (aside from Biblical and ancient writings), no brochures, and no testimonials about how it was to get there or being there. Instead of their being a vehicle to see and evaluate, there are personal character changes that one must make, changes that are often uncomfortable and difficult to accept and embrace.
In truth, I would venture to say that few, if any, who have reached the Promised Land want to leave there; and those who come back to help the rest of us get there have a difficult time expressing just how "worth it" the journey is. So, those of us who seek to get there must commit on faith at a deep level for us to go there, sight unseen.
When we look at the condition of the world today, many of us are up in arms with the chaotic mess that we see. Many of us are unsatisfied, uncomfortable, and perhaps even discouraged by how things are going. But, the future lies before us, including that land flowing with milk and honey. Thus, we must go forward.
Observers of Passover lift up the Biblical account from Exodus every year. We celebrate the fact that the cry came up to God, thankful that the LORD heard the cry, awed that that God wrought miraculous deliverance by signs and wonders, bringing the Children of Israel out of Egypt. We are encouraged by the fact that God keeps His word, even with those who sleep in the dust. We are strengthened by the fact that God takes interest in the plight of the downtrodden, and delivers them from the hands of those who are stronger.
We also see the beginning of a recurring theme in Israel (and among humanity in general), one that perhaps we are not always fully conscious of, but one that is self-defeating when challenges present themselves to us along a new journey. Perhaps this cliché says it best: "better the devil you know (than the devil you don't)."
In Bible speak, the people put it this way: "Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, 'Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians?' For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness."
In other words, "As bad as it was in Egypt, and as much as we begged for deliverance from Egypt, we know what Egypt is like. But this... how do we deal with this!?" This is an ironic contemplation, given that they didn't seem to worry so much about how they'd get out of Egypt when they were begging to leave! But, one of the things that we don't often celebrate (or even notice) is God's first lesson to Israel about the importance of self-agency in one's own "salvation." It is an agency that relies on one having faith in the promises of God.
God sent Word through Moses saying, "Wherefore criest thou unto Me? Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward!
With the Plagues, God did 9/10 of the work. In the 10th plague, the people had to do something, namely sprinkle the blood of the lamb on their door posts. It seemed like a little something, but no matter how small, they had to do, or die. Within hours, those who did found themselves beginning the process of deliverance. They weren't in the Promised Land yet, but they were finally out of Egypt and on their way.
Unfortunately, the a great number ultimately ended up dying on the journey, preferring the devil they knew to the promise they didn't, each time that they encountered a challenge. They were fearful of the very (process of) deliverance that they begged for, lacking faith in the very promise upon which they relied to solicit that deliverance!
This place of tragic irony is the same place where we find ourselves today. We find ourselves at various overlapping boundaries and crossroads, and as Revelation teaches us, we have to actively choose where we want to be.
As a country, we are struggling terribly to live up to the soaring words of the Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
As a world, we find ourselves becoming fed up with war, poverty, the inequitable distribution of wealth and resources, pollution, climate change, transcending xenophobia to achieve mutual fellowship and cooperation, and the very real threat of extinction.
Religious congregations find themselves struggling to extract, understand, teach, and apply the essence of ancient and prophetic teachings from the Word, and from customs and traditions, so that they don't cling so tightly to the past and to the by-products of religion that the choke the life out of their congregation; but instead move forward in a new manifestation of the same salvific truths.
As individuals, we find ourselves being triggered by the current events of today, which bring forth our hidden weaknesses, which our spirit is inspiring and empowering us to release and overcome, if we only would.
Times like these are appropriately likened unto "the wilderness", because it is barren and desolate, it is a place where we're not intended to stay, it is a treacherous place to be gotten through, an unfamiliar place that is easier to get into than it is to get out of. There is nothing in the wilderness upon which we can lean, or from which we can draw sustenance. And, if we are to make it out and keep ourselves from dying in the wilderness, we must go forward!
The emergence of a wilderness in one's life is not necessarily a sign of failure, nor of a wrong turn. It is often a sign that one has entered a transitional phase, a phase where one begins the process of becoming acclimated with what is soon to come. Everything won't survive a journey through the wilderness--and that's the point! The wilderness compels us to drop excess baggage that will only weigh and slow us down. The wilderness teaches us to change the metrics by which we measure our progress and orient ourselves in the world. The wilderness gives us an opportunity to begin translating our knowledge and wisdom gleaned from our previous context, so that we can apply it in the new, higher context that is manifesting around us.
It is in the wilderness where we can begin to see the true possibilities of the growth and expansion of self.
Unfortunately, our familiarity with "the devil with know", coupled with fear of the unknown often work to sabotage us in such moments. The lamentation cries out from the weary (or obstinate) soul, "Why do I have to change?"
How uncomfortable must we become before we commit to going forward? How unpleasant and heavy must our burdens become before we finally lay them down? How hard must God use life circumstances to press our backs against the wall before we take that leap of faith and go forward?
Or, will we be so enamored with, or mired in our past, so comfortable with (or paralyzed by) our fear that we sentence ourselves to die in the wilderness? Because, if we keep resisting change and growth, God will leave us there to die.
My mentor taught, "There is no transformation without conflict." So, let's not let challenges stop us. As Paul wrote (Galatians 6:9), "...let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."
God gave us the freedom to choose; and I say that we must go forward! There is a Promised Land for us to reach! So, I say as Joshua and Caleb said (Numbers 14),
[7] ...The land... is an exceeding good land.
[8] If the LORD delight in us, then He will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.
[9] Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.
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