The Land Between

• God commissioned Moses to lead His people from the fertile land of Egypt into another fertile land, the promised land of Canaan.
• After leaving Egypt, Israel spent a lot of time in the land between.
• Numbers 11, there is a riot that is about to break out because the people were tired of the manna God provided.
• You might think that the land between is barren, but it is fertile ground… for complaints.
• It is easy to look at the Israelites and think they are idiots for complaining.  But we should put ourselves where they were at, among the characters and see that we could be just like them.
• Moses said “I cannot carry these people any more, they are to heavy for me.”  The land between is not only fertile ground for complaining, but for a meltdown.
• Whose voice do we hear other than the voice of Moses? (think of those around you – parents whose child has run from God, a pastor who is navigating a church through a split, – Voices saying, “I can’t carry this any more!)
• God heard Moses’ cry, and brought to him 70 other leaders to help carry the load so he did not have to do it alone.
• The land between is also fertile ground for God’s provision.  God loves to provide… it is what He does.
• He may provide through strength to send another resume or make another phone call.  He may provide by a eerily timed sermon as you walk into church one day.  He will provide!  We see this throughout the Bible.
• God still had to deal with the Israelites and their rebellion.  God had to discipline, not for pain sakes, but for restoration.
• We should respect God for bring correction where it is needed.
• The land between is fertile ground for transformational growth.
• It is in the land between that we learn to pray.
• It is in the land between that we learn to depend on God.
• The land between is the best place for transformational growth.  But it can also be the place where faith goes to die.
• You can get very bitter in the land between.
• Trust evicts complaint.  They are incompatible roommates.
• The land between in the very soil where God does some of His richest and deepest work.
• We need to guard our heart, and let trust grow in the land between.

WOW!  This was a timely message for me as we are in our “Land Between.”  I am so thankful for Jeff speaking on this today.  God has used it in a great way in my life.