Devotional
Who We Are vs. Where We Are
“In the Exodus narrative, there are Ten Commandments and then ten tests for
Israel to see if she’s ready for a new life in Canaan. Everyone but Joshua and Caleb fail all ten tests. They aren’t ready.
“Which is why next comes the Torah, a Hebrew word meaning ‘teaching,’ to
show Israel the way forward. This same Torah now comes to us as the first five books of Scripture, a forever memorial to Israel’s time in the desert.
“But it took time for the testing and teaching to take effect on Israel’s formation. Scholars argue the direct route north was an eleven-day journey by foot. But God takes them into the desert for (depending on how you do the math) about two years. It ends up being forty years due to Israel’s choice to follow Joshua over the Jordan River, but in a hypothetical scenario where that never happened, God still had them make an eleven-day journey over two years.
“Could it be that the journey is more important than the destination? That who
we are is more important than where we are?”
—John Mark Comer in
“We Don’t Know What’s Going to Happen and That’s Okay”
My prayer this week: Dear God, I am so grateful you know the end from the beginning! On my journey with you, thank you for developing in me character, commitment, and compassion. Help me trust you no matter what, and help me recognize that who you want me to BE is more important than WHERE I am now.