9/8/2010 2:06:42 PM “May God visit you with grace in your season of transition. I pray that the barren landscape of trial will become the fertile soil of new growth. May our gracious God revive your spirit and restore your laughter. May you find him in your pain and trust him in your waiting. May the one who redeems all things meet you powerfully as you journey through the land between” (a prayer by Jeff Manion in "The Land Between").
When a friend of mine used the phrase the land between in a conversation describing where he felt he was in his life and work, it struck a cord with me and resonated with how I would explain various seasons of my life and journey. He was using the phrase because he had just heard Jeff Manion speak at the Willow Creek's Leadership Summit this past summer.
My curiosity was peaked which led me on a search for Jeff's book which I found in audio form and thorough enjoyed (later in this article I'll tell you where you can find it). Jeff masterfully draws on the lessons of Scripture (especially the Israelites journey from Egypt to the Promised Land) and examples from life to teach and provide insight for us and our congregations as we from time to time experience the land between which is where we need to find God in those transitions.
The challenge for us as we find ourselves in the land between is to not allow what looks and feels like a wasteland to be a wasted opportunity for faith formation and character development.
How many times have we (or the congregations we serve who are in transition) not unlike the Israelites spent too much time grumbling and complaining during the land between nurturing a spirit of impatience which resulted in God`s discipline to be applied. It is not unusual for congregations in transition to simply be looking ahead impatiently for their next pastor instead of camping out in the desert of their loneliness, feed on the food God has supplied and lean into their experience with a heart ready for God's transformation and deeper work.
Transitions for leaders and for congregations are unsettling times but are ripe opportunities that allow old ways of thinking, behaving and operating to be exchanged for God's fresh ways of thinking, living and trusting. We have a choice to make when presented with a wilderness experience. A choice that will determine the people we will become and the impact we will have on others.
"The land between – the space where we feel lost or lonely or deeply hurt – is fertile ground for our spiritual transformation and for God’s grace to be revealed in magnificent ways but in addition to being the bearer of mercy it is also the space where we can grow resentful, bitter and caustic if our responses are unguarded. The wilderness where faith can thrive is the very desert where it can dry up and die if we are not watchful" (The Land Between).
The Israelites struggled in their land between and in many ways failed to trust and accept the wasteland as God`s school of transformation. They struggled to see the land between as a necessary place where God was intent on transforming them from immature, Egyptian indoctrinated complainers into God-dependent worshipers with a whole new outlook on the world and God.
If you want to dive into this more, pick up a copy of
The Land Between, or go to the Ada Bible Church
www.adabible.org where you'll find Jeff Manion's audio version of his book (
click here for a link) or his
sermon series for listening or downloading.
The Land Between - Put It Into Practice
1. When was the last time you found yourself in the land between? What did it feel like? What did you learn while spending time in the desert? What do you think God was wanting to teach you in your last land between experience?
What is God wanting to still teach you about trust and total dependence on Him?
2. Think of a congregation you are working with that is in transition in some way. In what tangible ways are they experiencing the land between? How can you help them not "waste" what may feel like a wasteland experience but find God's deeper lessons while they journey through the land between?
3. Go back to the beginning of this article and read the prayer for yourself. Now ask God to bring to your mind someone or a group of people who need this prayer prayed over them. Now, with them in mind, pray the pray in faith and asking God to show you what you can do to encourage them during their land between.
