A New Season

In Exodus 16:1-3, the Israelites who have been miraculously delivered from Egypt are in the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land. They have been gone only two and a half months when they face their first big trial. They are running out of food in the wilderness. The first thing they do is remember what they had in Egypt. They were familiar with life in Egypt. They knew where to find food. Here they were in a new situation and had to believe God to provide in a new way. They were out of Egypt, but their thinking had not changed. God wants to move them from being slaves to being masters.

We often face new seasons in our lives. God wants to change our status, but first we have to change our thinking. Romans 12:2 says, “Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

When God wants to move you to a new place and you are fearful, think you are not worthy, or think in the old ways, you frustrate the Holy Spirit. The reason people stay on a certain level is because they think and act on that level. Maybe it is comfortable or feels secure. When God is changing your status, you are between two places, and that is where the challenges are. Moses went through the wilderness between Pharaoh’s house and delivering and leading the children of Israel. Do you think Moses ever looked back at the easy life he had in Pharaoh’s house?

There are growing pains when God changes your status. Your change in status may mean more service, greater responsibilities, and bigger challenges. It was not God’s plan for Israel to spend forty years in the wilderness. However, because of their old mindset of unbelief and rebellion, they failed to move into the promise God had for them. It was easier for them to wander their whole life in the wilderness than to take on the enemy by faith in God’s power and lay claim to what God had for them.

Isaiah 43:18-19 says, "Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” If you are in a place of change and possibly facing some challenges, spend some time with God and allow the Holy Spirit to give you insight and wisdom to enter into the new season God has for you.

Andy Clark