Once More Around the Mountain!

"...be transformed by the renewing of your mind."     Romans 12:2

This month Charisma magazine ran a brief article by Joyce Meyer about the Israelites wandering in the wilderness. You all know the Bible story about Moses leading God's children out of slavery in Egypt, but do you know that the trip from Egypt to the promised land should have taken them just 11 days? Instead it took them 40 years--forty years of wandering through the desert, traveling around the same mountains over and over again. Why? Ms. Meyers writes, "In Numbers 14 we see the people were continuously grumbling and complaining about everything. They even complained about the bread [the "manna from heaven"] that God miraculously provided for them. Anytime something difficult crossed their path, they were ready to give up and go back to Egypt--back to slavery." I had to chuckle as I read the article. When I was in my 20's (ten years ago or so:-) I ran a retreat ministry for college students. Once I invited a  dynamic pastor named Jim Slow to speak. In his keynote address Jim spoke about the trek of the Israelites from Egypt to the promised land and how they so quickly turned to unbelief and created their own gods instead of turning to the one true God who had saved them. Remember the golden calf? At every turn they complained and let discouragement set in. Then they begged to go back to their old familiar life. Now Pastor Jim was anything but a calm, sedate pastor-type. He was on fire for the Lord. I still remember him, red-faced and glowing with the fervor of God, standing in front of the crowd of 250 or so college students waving his Bible as he would shout, "ONCE MORE AROUND THE MOUNTAIN!" Dear friends, have you ever felt like you were wandering around in your own personal desert and circling the same mountains of life? What often happens? At every difficult point we grumble, we despair, we rely on our own solutions instead of turning to God for our sustenance. We don't want to change; we just want easy answers. In fact, sometimes we choose to return to our slavery in Egypt rather than let the Holy Spirit grow and mature us. And so we wander around the same old mountain over and over again, dealing with the same old issues, responding in the same old way, and getting the same old dead-end results. ONCE MORE AROUND THE MOUNTAIN! "Do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."  Romans 12:2 I pray that you move through your deserts and wanderings quickly, and do it with faith and smiles. Greg