The Holes that Make us Whole

Last year I started on a journey...a wilderness wandering if you will.  While the trip is not complete, I have seen the benefits of the lonely, hard trail God asked me to walk down.  This is a re-post about the journey... {To read the rest of the posts in the series, click here.}

This year God has stripped me down to the bare bones.  Huge chunks of my life were torn away.  Relationships severed.  Status changed.  My PR at an all time low.  Gaping wounds yet to be healed.  And yet,there is no lack of His love. He has walked me through it all.  Not that I am whole by any stretch of the imagination.  We become whole through the holes in our lives. It is in the stripping down that He builds us up.

The Israelites had a year like mine (let's just say several years).  Their status changed.  No longer favored by a Pharaoh. They became slaves, and their relationship with the Egyptians caused them great grief. Gaping wounds? I am sure a few wore them on their backs.  Yet, it was the holes that would make them whole and take them to their Promised Land.  Those places of deep need become the place where God meets us.  We lack no good thing when He takes us, strips us, and move us into the Wilderness.

The Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything.  Deuteronomy 2:7

He takes the holes of our lives.  The sufferings. The relational upsets. The sickness.  The emotional turmoil.  The need.  And fills them as we move into our Promised Land....a land where we don't lack.

For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills;  a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey;  a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.  Deuteronomy 8:7-9

I am grateful for Him... The Filler of Holes...

Linking up at...

How to NOT Get Bitten by a Snake

It is gratitude.  The very thing you need so you won't get bit. 

By a snake. 

{Photo Source-Wild Scenic Nature}

It was true in the garden so many years ago. A woman not thankful for the fruit she did have, reaches for the one piece that should be out of reach, changing life on earth.  The Snake had struck.  It would happened again in the wilderness.

A little ingratitude goes a long way...

And the people became impatient because of the journey. The people spoke against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food.” Numbers 21:4b-5

A little ingratitude comes back to bite you...

The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. Numbers 21:6
 
The story in Numbers of the Israelites fending off snakes in the wilderness is one good reason (really good!) to express gratitude.  So I keep a gratitude journal thanking Him for all the things He has done for me because honestly, I  never really did like snakes! 

How to Number Your Days

14, 600 Days.  That is how long it took.  The wandering.  Did they count them off?  Did they keep track of the time? Of how many sunsets passed? Did they wonder, "When will it end?" Were they like a prisoner in a cell scratching out marks on the wall?  14,600 days is a long time to wait. In the waiting there is wisdom.

In Psalm 90, Moses speaks of the number of days: Of God dwelling with His people.  Of our lives. Of our afflictions.

Psalm 90

A prayer of Moses the man of God.

¹ Lord, you have been our dwelling place
    throughout all generations.
² Before the mountains were born
    or you brought forth the whole world,
    from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

³ You turn people back to dust,
    saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.”
⁴ A thousand years in your sight
    are like a day that has just gone by,
    or like a watch in the night.
⁵ Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death—
    they are like the new grass of the morning:
⁶ In the morning it springs up new,
    but by evening it is dry and withered.

⁷ We are consumed by your anger
    and terrified by your indignation.
⁸ You have set our iniquities before you,
    our secret sins in the light of your presence.
⁹ All our days pass away under your wrath;
    we finish our years with a moan.
¹⁰ Our days may come to seventy years,
    or eighty, if our strength endures;
yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow,
    for they quickly pass, and we fly away.
¹¹ If only we knew the power of your anger!
    Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due.
¹² Teach us to number our days,
    that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

¹³ Relent, Lord! How long will it be?
    Have compassion on your servants.
¹⁴ Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
    that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
¹⁵ Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
    for as many years as we have seen trouble.
¹⁶ May your deeds be shown to your servants,
    your splendor to their children.

¹⁷ May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us;
    establish the work of our hands for us—
    yes, establish the work of our hands.

 It is in scratching out the marks on the wall that we gain wisdom.  It is in the numbering that we will be numbered among the wise.  Why count them off?  Because realizing that we spend so few of our days here  makes us push forward to use them for His glory. 14,600 days are but little. A span of seventy years just isn't enough.  If we number them we know that the suffering will not last forever. The enduring of all those miserable days will come to an end. Most importantly, if we count the days we know we can count on His love...

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
    that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

The marking off of days leaves a mark on our souls if each day is started in His love.  If we are reminded that we don't walk alone.  We don't wander without purpose. We don't live without His love. He is ever present and always loving no matter what our days bring...be it a wilderness or a Promised land.

 

The Holes that Make us Whole

This year God has stripped me down to the bare bones.  Huge chunks of my life were torn away.  Relationships severed.  Status changed.  My PR at an all time low.  Gaping wounds yet to be healed.  And yet,there is no lack of His love. He has walked me through it all.  Not that I am whole by any stretch of the imagination.  We become whole through the holes in our lives. It is in the stripping down that He builds us up.

The Israelites had a year like mine (let's just say several years).  Their status changed.  No longer favored by a Pharaoh. They became slaves, and their relationship with the Egyptians caused them great grief. Gaping wounds? I am sure a few wore them on their backs.  Yet, it was the holes that would make them whole and take them to their Promised Land.  Those places of deep need become the place where God meets us.  We lack no good thing when He takes us, strips us, and move us into the Wilderness.

The Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything.  Deuteronomy 2:7

He takes the holes of our lives.  The sufferings. The relational upsets. The sickness.  The emotional turmoil.  The need.  And fills them as we move into our Promised Land....a land where we don't lack.

For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills;  a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey;  a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.  Deuteronomy 8:7-9

I am grateful for Him... The Filler of Holes...

Got Glory?

The wilderness is the place of glory.  God's glory.  His "kavod".  The Hebrew word for glory. Kavod was originally used for the battle paraphernalia of a warrior, yet the word means heavy.  Quite appropriate for a shield, sword, or armor.  Don't the tools of the trade for a soldier weigh heavy upon him?

The stuff of battles is never light.  The weapons of war carry weight.  So does our God.

In the wilderness, Moses requests a glimpse of His glory (Exodus 33).  The weight of God. Can anyone measure it? Can anyone stand under it?  Can anyone look at His glory and live? Apparently not...

Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory."

And the LORD said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you..."

But He said, "You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live."

{Exodus 33}

His glory is in His goodness.  His weight is in His weapons of war.  Could it be that His goodness shines forth when He comes to our rescue? When He fights on our behalf? When He wages war in the wilderness...that place where we are wandering, not knowing where we are going and what is around the bend.

He fights because He is unwilling to surrender...

"I will not yield my glory to another."  Isaiah 48:11

Are you walking in the wilderness?  Are you living under a weight of worry? There is a God.  The God.  The Weighty One.  The one that is heavier than the burden you carry.  The One who will not give up His glory to another.  He will fight for you.  He will show you His goodness.  He will pass by.  He will cover you with His hand.  You are loved.

The Forever Fighter

Where is God in your Egypt? That land of hardship. Slavery. Abuse. That place of heartache and brokenness.

Where is God in your Wilderness?  That land of wandering.  Wondering where you should be.  Hoping for a place of plenty.

Where is God in your Promised Land? That land where you fight for every inch of ground.  Land dripping with milk and honey.  Your forever home.

God is there.  Everywhere.  In Egypt.  In the Wilderness. In the Promised Land. And what does He do in each of those places?  He fights.

The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very
eyes,  and in the wilderness. There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, 
all the way you went until you reached this place.” Deut. 1:30-31

He fights for YOU.  It doesn't matter what season you are in.  A season of sin?  He fights for your salvation from yourself.  A season of confusion...not knowing where you will go next?  He fights to blaze a trail before you. A season of hope and prosperity?  He fights to keep you close to Him.  Wherever you are, He is fighting. While the places may look drastically different He doesn't not alter His actions.  He fights.

What a comfort to know that the Forever Fighter goes before you and has your back!

Don't Leave Egypt Empty-Handed

Egypt. A place of pain. A bitterness beyond belief (Ex. 1:14).  But an exit from Egypt doesn't leave you empty-handed...

And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed.  Exodus 3:21

There are treasures to be taken from that land.  Lessons to be learned.  That in the midst of the heartache God empties His heart into our hands. Because a God of grace can't bear to leave His children helpless.

The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering." Exodus 3:7

He is an intimate friend.  One who sees the suffering.  One who hears the cries of our hearts. As you leave Egypt you go with a God who cares.  Cares enough to do something about the pain...

And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey. Exodus 3:17

The Israelites plundered the Egyptians on the way out because God wanted to bless them.  He loved them so much that not only did He take them out of their misery he also helped them pack for the journey.  The riches of Egypt were theirs for the asking. God wants to bless us to along the journey as He leads us out of our places of bondage and misery.  What riches is He packing for you? 

Worship in the Wilderness

Moved out of the only life they had ever known. Wandering into a place they had never seen.  Bruised. Beaten. Hearts bleeding.  Not only from the abuse they lived under, but also from the emotional turmoil of all they have endured.  What is a person to do when they leave what they know for the unknown?  How does one related to the One that orchestrated their departure? How does a person heal from the pain she left behind even though she carries it with her?

Worship

And God said, "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain."  Exodus 3:12

As they leave their life, God knows that they will need one thing to get them through the wilderness.  A heart of worship. Granted, the Israelites weren't known for their worship! Are we not a little like them? Ok, maybe A LOT like them?

They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?  Exodus 14:11

What are you doing, God, bringing me into this situation?

The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”  Exodus 16:3 

God, I would rather die than be in this situation!

“Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?” they asked. “Hasn’t he also spoken through us?” Numbers 12:2

 Why do they get the spotlight, Lord?  Aren't I important, too?? Where's my due?

They spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!” Numbers 21:5

Lord, You aren't providing what I need right now!  I hate this situation!

In the wilderness what a heart really needs is worship.  To focus on what God has given instead of what has been taken. Worship in the wilderness provides a way out of it. It is in giving thanks that we can walk on.  It is in gratitude that we can get up each day and travel on. A heart of bitterness is only a pit...there is no moving on when you are knee-deep in the muck and mire. To get out you must count up His gifts.

Empty Egypt {Wilderness Wanderings}

Oasis in the desert.  Empire to rival them all.  And yet, so empty!  Egypt. It can mean so many things to so many people.  But for those that are familiar with the Exodus story there are several conclusions to come to...

It is oppressive. 

It is a place where there is no freedom.

It may have entailed mistreatment, abuse.

It is a place of crying out to God.

It is bitter. {Exodus 1:14}

It tends to get worse before it gets better. {Exodus 5:7}

It is empty, devoid of what God wants for us.

Have you been to Egypt?  We ALL have.  Maybe it was being enslaved to a sin.  Maybe it was enduring abuse at the hands of another.  Maybe it was suffering the consequences of someone else's sin. Maybe it was a time of spiritual drought.  Whatever it was, it just plain reeks.  Like the stench from a river of blood or a million dead frogs.  The odor pervades your life.  You can't seem to get rid of it.

But there is One that is watching it unfold.  He knows.  And believe it or not, He hears.

And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them.  Exodus 3:9

Several months back I cried out.  "I want out."  And then promptly forgot about my plea.  But He was listening, and He took into account that I needed a little bit of saving.  I needed someone to step up to the plate and do something.  Something I couldn't do for myself.  I needed an out.

God is the Provider of Outs.  All those years ago He stepped up and said, "Enough is enough" and lead the Israelites out.  He does the same for us. He provides a way through the difficulty or maybe He leads us out of it completely. But whatever the case may be, God realizes that our Egypts are empty.  We need a fresh start.  We need to be redeemed.  We need grace. We need a way out.

He is the Way Out.

Wilderness Wanderings

Ever gone on a journey that you never wanted to take? The trip to court. The break-up of a relationship.  The leaving of a place you were comfortable.  The sickness that would never heal.  The guilt trip that never ends. We all face journeys that we never signed up for. You take your seat and are propelled forward.  You never paid for this trip at least not willingly.  But you are paying the price.

God is the God of the journey...

But he brought us out from there to bring us in...Deuteronomy 6:23

The journey He asks us to take He has taken Himself. During the journey we are never alone.  Never forsaken.  Never abandoned.

This past March I started a wilderness wandering of my own. {Actually, it started years ago.}  A journey that brought me to the Exodus.  First it was this Bible study...

but it blossomed from there. Over the past few months the story of the Exodus has become dearer.  Because it is my story.  Join me over the next few Tuesdays and Wednesdays as I explore those trips...the ones we never willingly sign up for.  The ones we pay dearly for.  But most importantly, the ones where God shows up in the middle of to give us a glimpse of His glory.  It is in the journey that we find His love. You can't miss it...it is posted all along the route.

So join me in the journey to find that He loves us no matter where He takes us.

See all the posts..

Empty Egypt 

Worship in the Wilderness

Don't Leave Egypt Empty-Handed

The Forever Fighter

Got Glory?

The Holes that Make us Whole

How to Number Your Days

How to NOT Get Bitten by a Snake