Pearls of Great Value

The manna stopped the day after they ate from the produce of the land, and the children of Israel no longer had manna. That year they ate what the land of Canaan yielded. Joshua 5:12 MEV 

Transition. The place in between. The place where the comfortable has become uncomfortable, and you don't know why you're feeling so disoriented. The place where your soul is no longer satisfied with what was and your heart begins to gaze out beyond the horizon looking for more. It's a place of questions, of feeling unsure, yet you feel the urge to move and keep moving. The complacent marrying the reckless. The content joins hands with the bold and venturous. 

Transition. The thing about transition is that God has to make the old lose its luster so that you can begin to prepare your heart for the new. You begin to feel disconnected from what you used to love. The passion for it is fading and in its place is...discontentment, restlessness, and detachment.

You wonder why you feel this way. You begin to wonder if something is wrong with you. Maybe your heart has become calloused. It's uncomfortable. It's making you re-think things and you start to ask questions. You find yourself pondering about stuff you didn't used to before. You feel a stirring inside, but you don't quite know what it is. The reality is, yes, you are stepping into change and it's welcoming you to the land of transition.

That brings me back to the Israelites. It strikes me that the manna stopped the day after they had eaten the food of Canaan land. It's as if God gave them a taste of the new, thereby letting them know it was time for the old to pass away. 

He stopped feeding them the old. God essentially let them know that the manna, as good as it was, was for a different season. The new season that God is calling you into also has a different taste. It has a bit of a different flavor and feel than what you are used to. But don't let that keep you from moving on. Different isn't bad when God has prepared it for you. Desire more! Hunger for the things that God is setting on the table before you. 

Hunger in itself is a motivation. It moves people out of complacency into something greater. And it's in pursuing that we get filled and yes, even more hungry at the same time. That's how it is in the spiritual. One is both full and hungry. It's amazing. Hunger is also a sign of spiritual health. If naturally, your child is never hungry, you know something is wrong. Likewise is a child of God who is not interested in Abba'a food, who has no appetite for anything of the kingdom, and more alarming is when he comes to believe he doesn't need it. Maturity and growth are maintained by hunger. Hunger also causes people to dream. People who don't dream or have a vision have lost their hunger. 

Here's the question we must answer though. What do we do in the in-between? How do we deal with the uncomfortable? With that place between Egypt and Canaan land? The first piece of advice is...do not get comfortable here. This is not where you are meant to stay. Instead, see where your heart is being drawn to. What desires is God awakening in your life? Pray. Pray hard and with dedication. Listen as the Holy Spirit directs you and finally, obey His voice. No matter what, decide beforehand that you will heed and obey His instructions to you. 

We can most definitely prolong a wilderness season, especially if we don't believe the promises that God has given us. If we decide to rebel and go the opposite way of where He calls us, we'd best be careful that it isn't going to turn into a 40-year wandering around in a dry season. 

I recently heard a pastor say this line and it struck me: "Before soil brings life, it kills the seed." It got me thinking. The shell has to break and die to produce a crop. That is often the purpose of the waiting season: to break the old. Here is where you will be purified, you must die to old habits and old mindsets, and yes, it will be like walking through the refiner's fire. Is it painful? Oh yes! The new birth is painful. Whoever said that leaving behind the old was an easy process hadn't ever had a transition. I was just thinking about a baby in the womb. You know, for that baby to experience life outside of the womb it has to go through a pretty tight birth canal. It had to transition from life inside the confined protective space of the womb to life outside. From old to new. Was the old comfortable? Probably. But just as the baby outgrew the womb, we need to grow out of the old season and transition into the new. 

If you're feeling restless, it's because you weren't meant to rest in the space/season you are in right now. It has served its purpose. Let it go. And yes, this could also mean letting go of things or relationships that are not of the kingdom. Is it edifying? Is it building the kingdom of God or tearing it down? Ask yourself the hard questions and be honest to the point where you are willing to lay everything down until just you and God are left. 

Lord, we give ourselves to you to be molded and to be shaped by you. We yield our lives, our hearts, and our desires to Your will and design. You are the potter and we are the clay. Father, if there is an area in our lives where we have lost the hunger, awaken it again! If we have lost the taste of the new season, refresh it in our minds. Let its taste be on our tongues and lips. Let rivers of living waters flow from our innermost beings. Create new wineskins and pour out the new wine, Lord. We thirst for the heavenly! Thank you for setting up a table before us. Thank you for the gift of Your grace which lets us partake with joy and without reservation. You are so good! The food which you give is so good! How wonderful is your love which walks us through these seasons of transition? You, my Lord, are my Shepherd, I shall not want. You lead me beside still waters, you make me lie down in green pastures, and you restore my soul. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Selah. Amen.