'Cuz I'm a wanderer, yes I'm a wanderer...
The past few weeks have been....interesting. Joe moved with our stuff back to Missouri because our landlord found someone to take over our lease a bit earlier than we really needed them to. Oh well. We're happy that we won't be moving all our earthly possessions in December in Minnesota. Again. But it has left Joe and me as wanderers, transients who are technically homeless. Joe has stayed with a collection of friends in Springfield while I have taken temporary shelter in the home of some friends here in the Twin Cities. We're both tired of not living together. I miss my husband, my dog and my stuff. I know its just stuff and I shouldn't miss it, but I do. I miss being able to cook and knowing that my bowl that I use for this is just as available as the knife I use for that or the pan I use for the other thing.
This past Sunday our pastor taught about the Israelites and their time of wandering for 40 years. God, please don't let my wandering stretch that long. Anywho, Pastor Andy read the passage from Numbers 11 where the Israelites began to complain about only having manna, manna and more manna to eat. They began to grumble about all the luxuries they had in Egypt with an "if only we had stayed in Egypt our live would be so great" approach toward the exodus. I had always read that passage (and the other passages where the Israelites complain about the very same God who they just saw perform something unbelievably amazing like the Red Sea parting) and thought "How dumb must those Israelites have been?" I typically would read those passages with arrogance that I would never be as stiff-necked as those lousy Israelites were. Right. Uh, didn't I just catch myself complaining about this or that...in light of God's abundant provision for me? I have a comfy bed, plenty to eat, lots of clothes to wear, a husband, family and friends who love and care for me, a job that pays my bills....and I have the audacity to complain that God's timing in my circumstances leaves something to be desired? That God isn't doing for me what I think He ought to? That all I have to eat is manna, manna and more manna and where the heck is my cheeseburger?
The pastor made a great point that the Israelite wandering was a physical, tangible event in history as they literally wandered in the desert while waiting to enter the Promised Land. But, he said, we too are in a period of wandering. Our "promised land" is Heaven, and earth just doesn't quite match up to what we know is waiting for us. We try and try to make earth more Heaven-like, but it will never work. We are surrounded by sin, greed, corruption, dishonesty, disharmony...and that's just in the Church. All around we are faced with evidence that Heaven-on-earth is impossible for us to achieve with human hands. It should be no surprise when bad things happen in this world. Instead, I should be all the more thankful when blessings come my way, because I certainly don't deserve them. So, in this period of wandering that feels so long to my human little mind, I will praise God for being sovereign and choosing something far better for me than I know to choose for myself. And I will wait for Him to deliver it.
This past Sunday our pastor taught about the Israelites and their time of wandering for 40 years. God, please don't let my wandering stretch that long. Anywho, Pastor Andy read the passage from Numbers 11 where the Israelites began to complain about only having manna, manna and more manna to eat. They began to grumble about all the luxuries they had in Egypt with an "if only we had stayed in Egypt our live would be so great" approach toward the exodus. I had always read that passage (and the other passages where the Israelites complain about the very same God who they just saw perform something unbelievably amazing like the Red Sea parting) and thought "How dumb must those Israelites have been?" I typically would read those passages with arrogance that I would never be as stiff-necked as those lousy Israelites were. Right. Uh, didn't I just catch myself complaining about this or that...in light of God's abundant provision for me? I have a comfy bed, plenty to eat, lots of clothes to wear, a husband, family and friends who love and care for me, a job that pays my bills....and I have the audacity to complain that God's timing in my circumstances leaves something to be desired? That God isn't doing for me what I think He ought to? That all I have to eat is manna, manna and more manna and where the heck is my cheeseburger?
The pastor made a great point that the Israelite wandering was a physical, tangible event in history as they literally wandered in the desert while waiting to enter the Promised Land. But, he said, we too are in a period of wandering. Our "promised land" is Heaven, and earth just doesn't quite match up to what we know is waiting for us. We try and try to make earth more Heaven-like, but it will never work. We are surrounded by sin, greed, corruption, dishonesty, disharmony...and that's just in the Church. All around we are faced with evidence that Heaven-on-earth is impossible for us to achieve with human hands. It should be no surprise when bad things happen in this world. Instead, I should be all the more thankful when blessings come my way, because I certainly don't deserve them. So, in this period of wandering that feels so long to my human little mind, I will praise God for being sovereign and choosing something far better for me than I know to choose for myself. And I will wait for Him to deliver it.
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