Every Christian is walking through the “land between” our salvation and eventual destination. While we are waiting for eternity, we can feel as if we are trudging through the barren landscape of an earthly desert. This place can either leave us feeling lost, lonely and frustrated or it can be fertile ground for our spiritual transformation as we see God’s grace revealed in magnificent ways. Our responses and reactions in this desert can determine whether our journey will be one of deep spiritual growth or one of complaining, discouragement and decline. ~ Pastor Dave
Open: Have you ever felt stuck in life? Share your story. What made you feel stuck? How did your situation resolve?
Read: Numbers 11; Exodus 3; Exodus 15-17; Psalm 106; 1 Corinthians 10
Discuss:
1. How would you have felt if, like the Israelites, you were delivered from the bondage of Egypt, promised a land flowing with milk and honey, only to be left in a wilderness? How is this Hebrew journey similar to our spiritual journeys? In what ways do you feel stuck here on earth as you await your eternal “promised land”?
2. In what ways have you seen the excitement you experienced at the beginning of your faith slowly wane? How did the Hebrews lose the luster of their exodus from Egyptian bondage? What were some of their responses and reactions? How have you experienced these same reactions?
3. The Hebrews grew hungry in the wilderness; God provided. Describe the “manna” the Hebrews ate in the wilderness. How would you have felt if you ate the same thing every day, every meal? What are the things you complain about? In what ways do we justify grumbling? The Hebrews grumbled repeatedly. As you read Exodus 15-17, what other things did they complain about?
4. In Numbers 11:11-15, we see that Moses is exhausted and discouraged. In what ways do we experience emotional meltdowns in the “land between”? What are the questions that you ask God repeatedly? How does this reveal the places of potential discouragement or meltdown?
5. Despite complaining and discouragement, God provides. How did God answer Moses in Numbers 11:16-17? Inventory your life. How have you seen God’s redemptive provision in the midst of your redemptive pain?
6. How have you experienced growth in your “desert wanderings”? How have you found the “land between” to be a necessary space in your spiritual growth? In what ways is God growing you right now in your desert places?
Pray: Ask God to make your “land between” fertile ground for spiritual transformation and His grace to be revealed in magnificent ways. Pray that God would give you the strength to endure your “desert wanderings” and to trust God’s process in you.
Memorize/Meditate: Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. Philippians 2:14-16
