Are You Making Progress?

Numbers 33:1-2 - Here are the stages in the journey of the Israelites when they came out of Egypt by divisions under the leadership of Moses and Aaron.  At the Lord’s command Moses recorded the stages in their journey. This is their journey by stages:

God told Moses that it was important for him to write down a complete list of everywhere they journeyed on the way to the Promised Land. And so Moses began with the exodus from Egypt and recorded everywhere they had stopped to camp. I counted 38 camps in the 40 years they wandered.  They moved constantly…but made no real progress toward the land God had promised them…because of their stubborn spirits.

As I read the long list of cities…wildernesses and mountains…I couldn’t help but wonder how long my own list would be. If I started with my salvation at fourteen…the list of places God has led me to and through is just as long. I realized just how much I resemble the stubborn selfish spirits of these people…and had to ask myself if I am making any progress in my relationship with God.

The older I get…and the further away from some of the harder things God has held my hand through…the more I realize the training some of the stops in my own journey has provided for today. My teenage years taught me how to love the Lord with all my heart.  My young adult years gave me an education that would grow over the years into a gift of writing and teaching. And now as I grow older God is teaching me to love unconditionally and depend on only him.

It helps me to lift up praises and thanks for every stop along the way.  It reminds me that even though some of my stops were not pleasant times in my life…they taught me important things about God that I could not have learned any other way. It makes me all the more thankful for this season of life that I am in now…enjoying reconnecting with family…using my retirement to help out with many ministries in my new church. Perhaps I am finally making a bit of progress in my relationship with God. 

Father…thank you for the training each piece of my life journey has given me.  Forgive me for the time that I complained…or doubted that where I was could be turned into something good and used for your glory.  Help me to utilize each moment of each stage of my training to help you further the kingdom of God. Help me to remember to stop and thank you for each experience in my life…good or seemingly bad. Amen.