The Good Land

“The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers.  

And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.  

And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 

Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years.

Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you. 

 So you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him. 

 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you."

Deuteronomy 8: 1-10

God is doing something sweet in my heart.  And it has to do with these verses.  He is causing me to remember.  And he is causing me to anticipate.

Because I believe I have wandered in the wilderness.  And I may wander in a different wilderness. I believe he is showing me the absolute necessity for obedience in order for there to be true and lasting joy.  

I believe that I was starving, and I also believe I was fed in my wandering. 

Yes, the discipline of The Lord has been very evident in my life. 

I do not believe God was absent during my years of drug use.  

Dare I say it, he was actually in control of it all.  

Yes, I made poor choices, but he had the final say.  He surely wasn't up in Heaven wringing his hands, sweating, hoping I would get it right.  

He was involved. 

He sustained me.

And he did all of this to make himself known to me. 

But the best part of all of this is that I believe he is just getting started.  He is bringing me into a good land. He is bringing you into a good land.  Even if it is off in the distance. Even if all signs tell you that he has abandoned you.  He hasn't.  Maybe your circumstances tell you otherwise.  Take heart, because God's word has given us a promise and there is nothing more certain. 

Yes, the good land is ultimately Heaven.  But I believe there are "good lands" here on Earth.  

The Psalmist (was it David?  I am not sure...) even says it. 

"I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord

 in the land of the living!"

-Psalm 27:13

(This passage says "a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey"...I think the ideal land would flow with ice cream, red velvet cake, really good coffee, and the sweetest pineapple you could find)

WHY?  Why did he do this for me? Why does he continue loving me like he does? Does he do it because of something I have done?  Well, no...I have "blown it".  I am very thankful it hasn't been up to me.
I would be stranded in the wilderness. 

Was it because I would be a mighty fine trophy of his grace to display?  Negative. 

And so, what do I do in this good land? 

  "And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you."

 Deuteronomy 8:10

Father, may I be found faithful!