Leave the Wilderness Behind

The Israelites spent 40 years making a journey that should have taken them only 11 days. They kept going around and around the same old mountains, but never making any progress. Do you ever feel like you are doing that? Do you keep coming up against the same problems over and over and just don’t seem to know how to get past them? In Horeb, God had spoken to them: You have stayed long enough at this mountain. Turn and take your journey (Deut. 1:6–7 ESV). Then He went on to say, See, I have set the land before you. Go in and take possession of the land that the LORD swore to your fathers (Deut. 1:8 ESV). I think God is telling us that it is time to press forward and start enjoying the good life He has for us.

One thing that can happen when our soul is wounded is that we can get stuck in life. We can become discouraged about ourselves and about the future. We can easily end up simply trying to survive each day. But that is not the way God wants us to think! He wants us to think about the fact that He wants to heal us and make us strong and whole—and that He has great plans for our future. He wants you to be full of hope, expecting good things to happen to you.

The truth is that God always has new and better things ahead for you. The reason the Israelites made no progress for so long is that they had what I call a “wilderness mentality”—certain mind- sets and ways of thinking that kept them from moving into God’s promises and the future He had for them. Examples of the kind of wilderness mentality you might struggle with include: “God loves everyone else more than He loves me.” “My past will always be a problem for me.” Or “My dreams will never come true.” Any negative, doubt-filled thoughts in your mind will keep you stuck right where you are.

Have you “stayed long enough” at a certain place in your life? Maybe it is a place of abuse or betrayal or deep disappointment. It could be anything that has caused you to feel like you can’t move forward or like your life is going nowhere.

It’s time to renew your mind according to God’s Word (Rom. 12:2) and make a decision to choose your thoughts carefully. Think in ways that agree with God’s Word, which says His plans for you are good and will give you hope for your future (Jer. 29:11). Let me encourage you to decide today that you have stayed long enough in the same place. Take God’s advice to the Israelites, and “turn and take your journey.” Leave your wilderness and wilderness mentalities behind and move toward the great things God has ahead for you.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, I need Your help to move out of my past, once and for all, and into the good plan I know You have for me. The thing is, I can’t do it without a lot of help from You. Thank You in advance for Your help, amen.