Mosaic (Apr 24)
- Amber Thiessen
- 1 minute ago
- 5 min read
Happy are you O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord, the shield of your help and the sword of your triumph (Deut 33:29).
The nation of Israel stood at last at the Jordan. A new generation looked across the river toward the Promised Land on the other side. They’d waited, wandered, and wondered for forty years. Now, the time had finally come.
Moses blessed the people with his final words, ending in praise to God who had kept them and provided for them again and again. Because the Lord had saved them, had been their shield and sword, they could walk forward in blessing, even without knowing what came next. They looked back on His faithfulness and stepped ahead in trust. His promises wouldn’t fail.
We too have seasons of waiting, wandering and wondering.
When it comes to the most challenging spiritual disciplines, waiting is high on the list (for me at least). Impatience pushes me to solve problems, seek resolution and act. But when the Lord turns the traffic light red, I sit there, hands on the wheel, watching and waiting. I rehearse His faithfulness, tracing the ways His sovereign hand has worked in and around me. Waiting draws me into prayer, surrender, and a deeper enjoyment of His presence. Paul Tripp writes, “When it comes to our sanctification, waiting is not about what we get at the end of the wait, but rather about what we become as we wait"[1]
Israel traveled through the wilderness as a people without a home, moving from place to place. This was a temporary season of wandering. Caught between promise and fulfillment.
But their wandering wasn’t aimless.
The pillar of cloud and fire marked the Lord’s leading at each step. He did not leave them. The Good Shepherd kept them, teaching them to depend on Him as they walked.
We also live between our temporary home and the one to come. Our sojourning on this side of Eden won’t last. We're here, but we’re not settled. But we can lose sight of the already-not-yet kingdom of God, treating this world as if it were home.
Instead, we hold the things of this world loosely and cling to Christ.
This is perseverance.
And James Smith reminds us “there is delight in the sojourn when we know where home is.”[2]
Israel’s journey carried doubts, frustration and, I’d imagine, curiosity. Uncertainty about the future stirs anxiety, and in that tension, we often react rather than respond. Even if I don’t want to admit it, Israel’s complaining can look similar to my own.
As we wait, we walk as pilgrims with the Lord, our wondering turns toward hope in His promises. He is our help and our shield, and He will bring us home. We persevere with courage, confident that He is completing the world He began.
Questions will come. Lament will have its place.
But as we press into Him, He reshapes our desires and fixes our hearts on what is eternal.
So we wait. Not aimlessly, not alone, and not without hope. The same God who led Israel to the edge of the Promised Land leads us still. He is our help and our shield, holding us fast until we reach the place He has promised.
“Happy are you,” Moses said, “a people saved by the Lord.” The same is true for us. We are a people kept, helped, and led by Him. And that is reason enough to trust Him in the waiting.
[1] Do You Believe:12 Historic Doctrines to Change Your Everyday Life, Paul David Tripp, ch.19
[2] On the Road with Saint Augustine, James K. Smith, p.13
📚 On My Shelf
I've framed this month's reading around the topic of peace, as part of my personal curriculum for the year. I'm in the midst of Triumphing Over Sinful Fear written by a Puritan minister, John Flavel in the 1600s.
I finished Free to Weep by Brittany Allen where she helps us answer questions we've thought, heard or experienced in the throes of suffering. I'll be writing a review, so stay tuned :)
Our International Director ended one of his recent audiocasts with the quote: "Live to be forgotten, so Christ will be remembered." This was both a comforting and sobering reflection, so I hunted down where these words originated and disocvered a short booklet titled, Live to Be Forgotten written by Patrick Fung on the life of E.A. Hoste, who was one of the Cambridge Seven, and the successor to Hudson Taylor as director of China Inland Mission.
🏷️ Book Deals
I’ve read many of these and found them both encouraging and challenging in the best ways. A few are still on my own list or come highly recommended. I hope you’ll find something here that meets you where you are.
🗞️ In Articles
"What if “I don’t know” isn’t a failure of faith, but the beginning of it? Our daughter’s question tested my faith and freed me from the unbearable weight of needing all the answers."
Sounds like an oxymoron, right? But Reagan goes on to explain: "The laziness Peterson is describing is a refusal to slow down enough to make a plan and decide what is most important. Ironically, by staying so busy that we can’t think, we are actually failing to take the task of stewardship seriously."
This helped me think a little more about about areas in my life where I let the floodwaters of activity carry me, and where I could plant myself more firmly against the current to steward my time faithfully.
I've heard it said that most bible reading plans die once they reach Leviticus. This article shows us a few highlights to help us understand the framework of Leviticus. And, I've also been helped by Nancy Guthrie's book Lamb of God and Warren Wiersbe's Be Holy very accessible commentary on Leviticus.
"It’s easy to slip into spiritual nearsightedness in our quiet times. Life is busy, distractions pull at us, and we drift into bad habits. Our privileged practice of communing with God can begin to feel like a chore rather than a delight. We hurry through our daily reading and prayers, and check the box that we did it. We move on, unaffected and unchanged."
Cara recently released her book The Pursuit of Holy Leisure, which I highly recommend! (Find my review here)
"And yet, no matter how things appear, redemption has happened through Jesus, it is happening every day through the very things we often think are to our detriment, and it will happen to the fullest when we enter glory."
Experiencing my own seasons of ups and downs, I'm reminded of how God's faithfulness sustains me and how the Lord is at work in and through me, despite of (or in the midst of) trials.
