The God Who Meets Us In The Middle: Between Egypt & The Promised Land

This week, the Daily Devos will focus on the theme, "The God Who Meets Us In The Middle."

Most of us like the moment of arrival.

We like answers. Resolution. Clarity. The moment when everything finally makes sense.

But much of life doesn't happen there.

It happens in the middle.

Between leaving and arriving.

Between the prayer and the answer.

Between who we were and who we're becoming.

Between loss and whatever comes next.

We often treat these places as something to get through as quickly as possible.

But Scripture tells a different story.

Again and again, God meets people in the middle.

Maybe God will meet us there too.

“Not all those who wander are lost.” — J.R.R. Tolkien

“The LORD went in front of them in a pillar of cloud by day, to lead them along the way.” — Exodus 13:21

The Israelites knew where they had been.

Egypt.

Slavery.

Pharaoh.

Bricks without straw.

They also knew where they were going.

The Promised Land.

Freedom.

Home.

The problem was everything in between.

The wilderness.

When we tell the Exodus story, we tend to remember the dramatic moments: the burning bush, the plagues, the Red Sea, the Ten Commandments, the arrival in the Promised Land.

But Israel spent forty years in the middle.

Forty years.

Long enough for an entire generation to grow up knowing nothing but wilderness.

And yet, the wilderness wasn't empty.

God was there.

A pillar of cloud by day.

A pillar of fire by night.

Manna on the ground each morning.

Water from rocks.

The presence of God traveling with them.

Israel wanted to arrive.

God seemed interested in forming them along the way.

Maybe that's because leaving Egypt didn't automatically make them ready for the Promised Land.

They had left Egypt.

But Egypt hadn't entirely left them.

They had spent generations being told they were slaves. Now they had to learn how to live as free people.

We have wilderness seasons too.

A relationship ends, and we don't know what comes next.

We retire, and suddenly we're not sure who we are without our work.

We leave behind an old understanding of faith, but haven't discovered what we believe now.

We know we can't go backward.

We just don't know how to move forward.

We call these seasons waiting.

I think God would call them formation.

Because something can happen in the wilderness that cannot happen anywhere else.

We discover what we actually need.

We discover what we've been depending upon.

We discover who we are.

And sometimes we discover God in ways we never could when everything felt settled.

If you're in a wilderness right now, you probably want directions to the exit.

I understand.

But perhaps there is another prayer worth praying:

God, while I'm here, don't let me miss what you're doing.

Sometimes the wilderness isn't keeping us from where God wants us to be. Sometimes the wilderness is part of how God prepares us for what comes next.

May we learn what it means to trust God in the wilderness.  And may the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us all, now and forever. Amen. 

Prayer

God of the wilderness, I confess that I want to hurry through the uncertain places of my life. When I cannot see where the road is leading, help me trust your presence. Give me enough light for the next step and enough faith to believe that you are forming me along the way. Amen.

Reflection Questions

1. Where in your life do you currently feel “in the wilderness”?
2. What might God be forming in you during this season?
3. Instead of asking only, “When will this end?” what other question might you ask?