Our path to the promised land probably involves a lengthy journey through the wilderness. Apparently the greatest gifts in life can often only be built in challenging places, and the sooner we come to see that, the sooner we can walk that path with joy and gratitude.
Israel pulled off a spectacular escape from Pharaoh, only to run smack into the wilderness. For FORTY years. Lehi sprinted out of Jerusalem to avoid destruction, only to wander in the desert for EIGHT years. They were constantly being delivered, but they couldn't see it. We have to learn to SEE it.
Because this seems to be a pretty common pattern for our own journey to our own Promised Land--it's NOT a nonstop flight or a quick drive down the street. It's a lengthy process, dense enough to forge us into something different. A new creature.
Apparently when God wants to take us to a better place, he's only partially talking about geography. It seems that mostly he wants to spend a very long time mentoring and tutoring us through difficulties, where we have limitless opportunities to practice turning to Him. Over and over, as He tries to ingrain in us the ability to trust; the ability to walk in the dark.
With Israel it was manna. Just enough to sustain them day to day. No stockpiling, no security. Just enough to get by, day-by-day. With Lehi it wasn't quite as manna-miraculous, but they managed to get just enough food to survive, barely, and they had to adapt to surviving on raw meat. God brought them the experiences they needed to become like Him--even if Laman and Lemuel didn't take advantage of it.
And even after all that wilderness and struggle, they still weren't finished. Israel still almost died from lack of water and then had to liberate all their land. Nephi still had to build a new kind of ship and spend an entire year crossing the entire ocean! And even THEN the adventures didn't end as all of them had to struggle with just living and being around each other.
In the end, The Promised Land isn't a place at all. It's us. It's a place of safety because we've learned to trust. It's a place of peace because we've learned to forgive and ask for forgiveness. It's a place of prosperity because we've learned to be grateful.
God's pretty clear that to get back to Him we need a broken heart and a contrite spirit. So it makes sense that our journey there will have times of heartbreak--so that we can grow a new heart. And contrite means crushed, so it makes sense that at times life will feel crushing, as God finds a way to rebuild us into something SO much better.
The great challenge then is to recognize the heartbreak and the crushing, these wildernesses in our lives, for what they really are--the induction into an elite training program led by Jesus Christ himself, where he lovingly and carefully brings us the experiences that can craft the character we all yearn for so much.
Personally I REALLY wish I could just HAVE faith. I don't want to have to DEVELOP it, by overcoming fear, over and over and over. I want to just HAVE patience. I don't want to cultivate it by overcoming frustration again and again a million times. And I want to already have love for everyone. I don't want to have to earn it by fighting through misunderstandings and learning to accept and forgive.
I need to switch that around. In sports they often talk about how an athlete becomes a champion long before they step onto the podium to receive a medal. We become champions during the lonely, mundane practice sessions of life. We become champions when we keep working on the little fundamentals, often all alone. The great truth is that we are probably never MORE of a champion than in those moments of greatest defeat--when we choose to pick ourselves up and keep going. We have to learn to celebrate THOSE moments!
We have to learn to patiently appreciate and celebrate the learning process. We have to accept the natural ebb and flow of life. We have to learn to be grateful for the grinding. We have to learn to celebrate and relish the wilderness, even when there's no end in sight.
We have to learn to remember that those empty times when we might FEEL all alone, we are not. Our divine Coach and Friend never leaves us. He will help us through our divinely crafted work-outs. And the harder the work-outs get, the more we can trust that they will be worthwhile and will turn to us for our good.
So whether you find yourself "lost" in the endless wilderness or "perishing" in the infinite sea, find a way to remember you are not lost and you are not perishing. You are simply in the middle of a work-out carefully crafted by the ultimate coach of all the universe. You are right where you need to be to get where you really want to go. You are in exactly the right circumstances and facing precisely the right challenges with just the right amount of support you need to become who you really want to be.
Don't fear the wilderness in your life. Embrace it. Thank God for it, as you patiently and trustingly seek to learn what great gift he is trying to bless you with. Again, some of the greatest gifts possible in life are things like peace or faith or hope or gratitude. They are infinitely valuable, so they cannot be won cheaply.
So remember to remember Him. When you find that fear is stretching your faith to the breaking point, remember Christ. When you can't carry it all anymore, remember to let Him carry it for you. When you simply don't know what to do, remember that He does know what to do, and He will help you get there. When you feel alone, remember that He is always with you. And when it seems like nothing is going right, remember that EVERYTHING is going right, because "all things shall work together for your good."
If possible, remember that you don't have to just endure. You can rejoice. Always. You may not see the millions of fans all around you. You may not be standing on a podium. And you may not be getting a medal today. But you are becoming a champion today. Just remember. Remember Him.
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