The Land Between

August 29, 2010

Guest Speaker: Sis. Damaris Herron
Numbers 11:4-35

I went to the Global Leadership Summit and heard Jeff Manion, Pastor of Ada Bible Church in Michigan, speak and he talked about the Land Between.

What is the Land Between?

 The Land Between (as defined by Jeff Manion) is where life is not as it once was, where the future is in question. It is a time in the “desert”.

It can be an instant change:
• A break up
• Death
• Loss of a job

Or it can be progressive:
• Economic crisis
• Illness
• Broken Marriage

We are all going to find ourselves in the Land Between. When we come to Christ you do not land on easy street, you will not always pass go and collect $200. This is not the Wiz where Michael Jackson is singing ease on down the road. You will face trials, you will feel hardships, and you will find yourself at some point in your life in the land between. And it can last days, weeks, months or years.

What matters most is NOT the trial that you are going thru but your RESPONSE, your reaction to that trial, to being in the Land Between.

Pastor Manion used the story of the Israelites in the desert right after they come out of slavery from Egypt to illustrate the Land Between.

• Refresher: The Israelites had been slaves in Egypt. God raised up Moses to lead them out. They survived the plagues, they crossed the Red Sea, they are being protected by and provided for by God every day. And we meet up with them in the desert where they are eating manna everyday for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
  
  

They are in the land between, the land after slavery and right before they reach the Promise Land, Canaan.

Pastor Manion says that this land, the Land Between is fertile ground for 5 things:

• Complaint: Numbers 11:4-9
  When we are in the midst of a trial we have to be careful that our complaints don’t become accusatory. And as time passes and you keep complaining and nothing changes before you know it complaint and bitterness take up residence in your house. If we are not careful here is where our faith can come to die. Instead we must trust God. When the chips are down will we say Lord, you’re in control? Will we be able to go thru trial, no matter how long, still believing that God is good, God is loving, God is wise, God has my back?
  
• Meltdown: Numbers 11:11-15
  At some point in our trial, in our journey thru the Land Between, we will come to the end of ourselves. We will be exhausted and at the end of our rope. We can’t see the end we can’t see where we originally started from. All we can see and feel are our circumstances coming to rest heavily upon us. Sleepless nights, tears, worry, and we say we can’t take it anymore. This is the time where we learn to pray. Psalm 55:22 says, “Cast your burden on the LORD, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.” God wants us to cast our cares on Him. He wants us to unburden ourselves to him. The same way that we vent to our best friend so God wants us to vent to Him. NOT complain to Him. But cast our cares on him. This is where our prayer lives reach a maturity. Where we know that our relationship with God is growing deeper because we are coming to Him seeking relief and not trying to do it on own. In Psalm 13 David comes to God and asks, How long Lord will my enemies prevail over me? How long? And he resolves himself to trust in the God he knows can make a difference in his circumstances. That’s what our prayers should be.
  
• Provision: Numbers 11:16-17
  God brings us to a place of dependence. He wants us to trust Him for our everyday, day to day minutia; things that seem small to us but are a big deal to God. He wants us to open our hands and let go of those things that we are holding on to so tightly so that he can bless us, so that He can provide for us, so that we understand that everything we need can be found in Him. If we are able to trust God for the small things we will believe Him for the big, almost impossible things. He may provide a way out of our storm or He will provide you the tools to weather it. If you trust God He will provide.
  
• Discipline: Numbers 11:30-34
  We hate discipline. Some more than others, which is why we get repeat offenders which the Israelites are. In the Land Between, God inflicts pain for redemptive purposes. God wants us to learn from the discipline so that:
• We won’t make the same mistake that can lead to dire consequences
• So that it will draw us back to Him
  
• Transformational Growth
  This is where what you do in response to the trial will push your faith and relationship with God forward to new heights or where you could end up like the Israelites, left wandering in the desert for 40 years and/or dying there. When you are here, in the Land Between, trust God. You don’t know why these trials are happening to you but God knows.  And you can be confident, of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; (Philippians 1:6)

Maybe…

• In losing your job God is trying to teach you something? Humble you? Cause dependence on Him?
• The man or woman you swore you couldn’t live without, God broke that up to show you that you can live without them & he has someone much better for you?
• The death of a loved one will put you in a place to be a blessing and a comfort to those who experience the same loss?
• Uncertainty about your major in school or your future as a whole is an opportunity for you to ask God to show you His dreams and plans for you?
• The death of a young person is so that it will jumpstart you to action for the kingdom?
• Thru your illness you will be an inspiration and a testimony to God’s faithfulness?

Romans 8:28 says: And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”

What we do here, in the Land Between, will either bring you life or cause you to perish and will determine how long you stay here.

It's your Choice. 

Pastor Pete