One More Lap

I have had many conversations with different people who are all experiencing the same thing: a frustration with the waiting. Waiting for a career change, waiting for an answered prayer, waiting for their special someone, waiting for the door to open, waiting, waiting, waiting for God to move.

Yesterday, while talking to a friend about this topic, I said something that struck me so much that I have been thinking about it ever since:

Sometimes, God needs us to take another lap around the desert before we are ready to go into our promised land.

You see, God isn’t going to let us walk into a land we are not ready for, even though we may feel like we’ve been ready for a long time. The Israelites had a year long journey from Egypt to Canaan. God had them take a longer route in order to purge them of everything Egypt had tainted them with. When they arrived, Egypt was still very much in them, and they weren’t ready to enter. They felt ready, believed they were ready, wanted to go in and eat of the fruit, but God told them no, therefore they walked around the desert for an additional 40 years.

God could have let them go in, after all, they had been traveling in the sun, heat and desert for an entire year! But, He knew if He let them in, they would not only die, but become even more tainted with the sin of the world, therefore ruining all of His glorious plans for them and future generations.

To God, you are an Israelite. He has a destiny and a plan for you, a mighty call that no one and nothing can stop, other than yourself. God needs you to succeed, He wants you to take the land He sends you to, but He also knows if you go in before you are purged of the world, you will fail.

So, if you find yourself in a period of waiting, praise the Lord! God is getting you ready for something amazing, He is ridding you of anything the world can use against you, strengthening you in order for you to be able to withstand the battles, temptations, lies and pressures that are ahead.

You may feel ready, believe God is just refusing to open that door you’ve been banging on for what feels like, or even may be, years. Remember the Israelites. If God had let them go in when they wanted, when they complained and mumbled, they, and all His plans, would have been destroyed. God is protecting you, fortifying you and readying you for the greatest adventure of your life, but don’t rush in before He is ready to let you go.

When the Israelites eventually entered Canaan, they were an unstoppable force. God is making you into an unstoppable force as well.

So, be still and know God isn’t going to let you miss your opportunity. He is aligning everything perfectly in order for you to enter into your promised land, whatever that may be, and truly make a difference and achieve all He has destined for you and His kingdom.

“Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, Pass through the host, and command the people, saying, Prepare you victuals; for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which the Lord your God giveth you to possess it.”
-Joshua 1:10-11