Journey To The Promised Land

 His feet were hurt with fetters; his neck was put in a collar of iron; until what he had said came to pass, the word of the LORD tested him.

Psalms 105:18-19

Have you ever felt like Abraham, the call of God to come out from your country, your kindred, and your father’s house to the land that He will show you? (Genesis 12:1) Or, as the children of Israel, you have cried to the Lord because of your bondage in Egypt. The Lord remembers you and has said come out of Egypt and journey towards the promised land, a land flowing with milk and honey. (Exodus 2:23-25)

 

Have you responded to that call or, still contemplating it? If you have responded to Him, glory to God. If you have not responded to Him, do not delay your response. When we respond to Him, there is a preconceived notion that our journey henceforth will go on smoothly without any obstacle whatsoever. We are disappointed as the children of Israel when we meet a series of obstacles. We then begin to raise all kinds of complaints against God: “Have you brought me out of my Egypt or from my kindred to kill me. I at least had my essential needs in Egypt or with my kindred. There was security there, even though it was not the best. I had control over what was going on in my life.”

 

According to the main text, the word of the Lord will test us to refine. If He doesn’t define us, we are likely to bring in the habits from the past into the new, which will hinder us from coming to the fullness of what He has promised us in the new. Why does He test us, you may ask? It is to take away our dependence on the past (it could be mental, physical, or spiritual) and solely rely on Him to be the Author and Finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). Our God is jealous, and He will not permit us to have any hope in others except Him.

 

Therefore, if you come across any obstacle(s) on your journey to the promised land, be encouraged, do not despair, or raise complaints against God. Rather, solely trust in God that He can bring what He has said to pass (Matthew 24:35). You can rest assured that God is not a man that He should lie nor a son of man that He should repent. Has He said it, and will He not do it? Or has he spoken, and will He not make it good? (Numbers 23:19). Press on forward, beloved forgetting the things of the past and the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you, knowing that our ultimate promised land is with Him in glory.

 

Let this hymn by William Williams (1745) be your prayer: 

Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah,

Pilgrim through this barren land;

I am weak, but Thou art mighty,

Hold me with Thy powerful hand.

Bread of heaven, Bread of heaven,

Feed me now and evermore;

Feed me now and evermore. 

Open now the crystal fountain,

Whence the healing stream doth flow;

Let the fire and cloudy pillar

Lead me all my journey through.

Strong Deliv'rer, strong Deliv'rer,

Be Thou still my Strength and Shield;

Be Thou still my Strength and Shield. 

When I tread the verge of Jordan,

Bid my anxious fears subside;

Death of death and hell's Destruction,

Land me safe on Canaan's side.

Songs of praises, songs of praises,

I will ever give to Thee;

I will ever give to Thee.