23 - Wilderness to Wonder

May 23, 2017- 

Every time I see "23" it reminds me of a many things. It holds a sense of wonder because it's meaning is complex, deep, full of pain and full of hope.  I was born on the 23rd and years later felt my deepest pain on the 23rd. It led me into the desert and walked with me through the wilderness. It revealed the bitterness in my heart as I wrestled with Psalm 23. And, it broke my heart to be in "The valley of the shadow of death" but I knew it was where I needed to camp out for a while. I needed time to let go of the way I saw my world. I needed new eyes and that's what I got living in "The Tent World". In the valley I met The Shepherd. Over time He became My Shepherd. Today 23 reminds me that I'm not alone and I'm on a journey that is leading me home. 

This morning I listened to the song above and it paired so well with my morning devotional. The lyrics are hopeful and full of wonder and remind us that He turns the wilderness in wonder. 

“No matter what happens in this world or in your life, never forget, you’re not home…you’re only journeying through.  Every problem will pass, and every temptation will fade.  So tread lightly.  It’s where your’re going.  Keep your eyes focused and your heart fixed on your destination-on the Promised Land.  And for all the rest, just remember…you’re only camping.”

"The Tent World"

Jonathan Cahn

He led me to a plateau from which we could see a vast panorama of the wilderness, mountains, valleys, canyons, plains, rocks, and sand.

“It bears a profound mystery,” said the teacher.

“What does?” I asked.

“This…the desert.  It’s the landscape through which God’s people journeyed on their way to the Promised Land.”

“The Israelites.”

“Yes.  In order to get to the Promised Land, they had to journey through the desert wilderness, dwelling in tents.  In that is the revelation.”

“The revelation of what?” I asked.

“This life,” he said.  “Everything in this world is temporary.  It’s not the place in which we stay.  It’s the place through which we journey  We pass through this world.  It isn’t our home.  It’s the tent world.  And all of us are just campers.  Everything in this world changes, every circumstance, every experience, every stage of life…they’re all tents.  We dwell in one tent for a season, ad then move on to another.  Your childhood was tent in which once you dwelt and then you moved on.  Your good times, your bad times, your successes and failures, your problems, your joys and sorrows, your adulthood, your old age…they’re all just tents.  Even your physical being, even that’s a tent, temporary and always changing.  The very frailty of it all is a reminder that we’re only journeying through.”

“Journeying through to where?” I asked.

“For the child of God, it’s the journey home.  It’s the journey home to the Promised Land…to heaven…the place where we give up our tents and exchange that which is temporary for that which is everlasting.”

“And how do I apply this?”

“In every way,” he said.  “No matter what happens in this world or in your life, never forget, you’re not home…you’re only journeying through.  Every problem will pass, and every temptation will fade.  So tread lightly.  It’s where your’re going.  Keep your eyes focused and your heart fixed on your destination-on the Promised Land.  And for all the rest, just remember…you’re only camping.”

The Mission:  Living this day as a camper.  Don’t get caught up in your circumstances.  Focus instead on the journeying.  And travel lightly.

2 Corinthians 4:16-5:5; Hebrews 11:8-16

I love what 2 Corinthians 4:18 says- "There's far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can't see now will last forever." - MSG