“The Lord your God has increased your numbers so that today you are as numerous as the sky. May the Lord, the God of your ancestors, increase you a thousand times and bless you as He has promised!”
(Deuteronomy 1:10-11 NIV)
The Israelites are on the edge of the Promised Land and their leader, Moses, shared one last sermon before he lets them go. He began by reminding the people of God’s promises to their forefathers: explosive population growth and and a land claim as a Jewish nation. That day, on the border of Canaan, was the tipping point for God’s covenant. After hundreds of years, the Israelites had grown into a huge population of people and they were poised to take hold to the second half of God’s promise.
Let’s pause here for a moment and recognize two truths about godly growth:
First of all, growth takes time. Abraham and Sarah were almost barren, but by the time their descendants circled back round to Canaan, they were as prolific as the entire population of San Antonio. Growth rarely happens overnight. Growth is a slow and steady series of decisions made consistently in the right direction. And then, one day, a good long ways down the road, God’s children look back and realize just how far they’ve come. When growth is generational; God gets the glory, not His people.
The second observation is an unpopular one: growth still happens in hardship. If we closely examine the Israelite narrative, we see that some growth occurred in ancient Canaan, more growth gave way in Egypt, but exponential growth was reserved for the wilderness. This might be especially true of spiritual growth. When days are easy, our character is largely untested: we don’t gain much maturity in comfort. The desert is where we learn to rely on God for everything. It is amidst that reliance that we are forced to grow and in our maturity: we find Him faithful.
“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” (Colossians 2:6-7 NIV)
Lord, please help us stay the course of growth, even when results seems slow. We realize that some growth requires decades, even generations. Our preference is to avoid wilderness seasons altogether, change our perspective. Let us embrace desert stretches as opportunities for exponential spiritual growth. May we ponder what You might produce in seasons of utter reliance. May we be willing to set out into desolate terrain in greater pursuit of You. Amen.