Your Past is Over

You and I have heard so many stories of people who are doing great things in their Christian faith today but had to leave their past behind at a point and press towards the high calling of God. If they have any regrets at all, it will be that they should have started the journey of faith earlier. Some of them left a past of fornication, uncertainty, lack of faith, fear, bondage and plunged into the depth of God’s promises as hope for a bright future, and God’s promises will always be enough.

One of such stories has been narrated in a most interesting movie, called The Train, which is the life story of the Founder of the popular Mount Zion Films, Evangelist Mike Bamiloye. Evangelist Mike had a rough start in life but when he met Jesus as a young man, hope beamed bright. With nothing but God’s Word as his anchor, he stepped into an unknown future with a known God; he ventured into the stage play and movie industry with Christian content and the rest they say, is history.

I find however, that the biggest challenge is not at the point of leaving anything that represents the past since a promise beckons, neither is it at the point of entering into the fulfillment of God’s promise since there’s a joy for its manifestation. The challenge is in the middle-place, where you have left the past but the promise is yet to manifest.

The middle-place is many things; it is the journey, the making, the process, the wait, the becoming, the anticipation, the application of faith, the test of patience, positive confessions, and so on. On the other hand, the middle-place is also the trial of faith, the desire for yesterday’s pleasures, the doubt of tomorrow’s reality, the loss of joy, the doubt of God’s faithfulness, the need for validation, and so on.

The peculiarities of a middle-place can be seen in the story of the Israelites’ journey from Egypt towards the promised land. Egypt was their past, the wilderness journey was their middle place, Canaan was the promised land. Now, let me show you some of the things the Israelites said in the middle place and you will see how this phase can bring out the worst of feelings:

1.) In Exodus 14:11, 12, when the Israelites saw the Egyptians pursuing them;

“They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”

They did not remember the miracles that brought them out of Egypt in the first place, they did not consider that the same God of miracles and deliverance could save them at any point.

2.) In Exodus 16:3, this happened before God provided manna;

“The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”

They had the option of asking or grumbling since God is more than able to provide, but they chose to grumble. God saw beyond the grumble and provided manna for them.

3.) This happened in Exodus 32:1 when Moses had gone up the mountain to receive the ten commandments from God;

“When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods^[a] who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”

You know how the story unfolded- they made a golden calf and worshiped it as their god.

4.) The issue in Numbers 11:14 was not whether God could provide, but how He expected them to survive without delicacies;

“The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!”

They forgot that it’s better to have a little in peace and freedom towards the promise, than much with trouble in slavery and bondage.

5.) Even at the brink of entering the promise of God in Numbers 14;2-4, when all excitement and joy should have been the highest so far on the journey;

“All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness!  Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”

They had come far with God, the fulfillment of His promise was in view at this point than ever before, yet they complained and just wanted to return to Egypt. They forgot the sorrows of Egypt that made them cry out before God showed up, and were willing to abandon the land of milk and honey instead.

I could go on and on, but you get the point already.

It is obvious by now, that there’s a tendency to judge poorly when in the middle-place. Never look back to what looks good and convenient because the back screen in the middle-place is tainted with false perception. We can do well to trust God, based on His track record, and He will surely make our journey worthwhile. Resist the temptation to return to what was wrong and destructive and stay glued to what is right and promising.

At no point did God abandon his people in the wilderness, at no time did He not meet their needs, at no time were they stranded. God never forgets nor abandons. In fact, God took their side against other nations, despite their misdeeds. Nehemiah 9:21-22 says;

“For forty years you sustained them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing, their clothes did not wear out nor did their feet become swollen. You gave them kingdoms and nations, allotting to them even the remotest frontiers. They took over the country of Sihon king of Heshbon and the country of Og king of Bashan”

God never abandons us on the journey, He always provides our needs, shows up in our favor and we can testify to that. However, there a tendency to complain and be ungrateful about His faithfulness along the way, since we are yet to see the fullness of the promise manifest. This is usually because of impatience- we want to see magical results. Let us bear in mind that God is more particular that we emerge refined through the journey, he is preparing us for the promise along the way. When the promise comes, we will have been equipped to handle it.

Notice that in each of the complaints made, the Israelites pictured Egypt (the land from which they cried for deliverance from heavy yokes, bongdage of slavery), as a better place, forgetting that there was a reason for leaving it behind. Isn’t this always the case? A person who leaves an abusive relationship suddenly begins to think he/she could have endured longer, or a person sees an opportunity to compromise as enticing, forgetting that it will cost the desired future.

Staying on the path of God’s promise brings fulfillment and rewards eventually, but turning back only leads to destruction. Do you think the Egyptians would have made a feast for a returning Israelites? No. They would deal them harsher measures and be more determined to never let them go. Lot’s wife is a story that portrays what happens when we look back, she turned into a pillar of salt, neither welcome by a comfortable but sinful past, nor able to press on to a bright future in God, who had made the way of escape.

The in-between phase is not a walk in the park, but all we need to do is align our desire and will with God’s. When we want what He wants, we will find it easy to journey.

We should study Nehemiah 9 verses 1-25 often, to realise that God is always with us through the journey.

Staying on the path of His promise is about trust, faith and obedience. When a person labours, he receives wages. On the other hand, Faith leads to results and Obedience leads to rewards. The difference is that while wages are earned, rewards are subject to the resources at the disposal of the giver, as well as His generosity and delight. Obedience to God makes us privy to His endless resources, and He is such a generous God.

Let me leave you with this statement- the most important thing when you feel like your journey is not making sense is whom you choose to believe. Believe God, no one who did ever regretted it.

Let us also maintain gratitude by counting our blessings and we will realise that there is a lot to be grateful for.