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Mar 11, 2023 06:00am

Honey For The Soul

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I was talking to a friend of mine recently when she described her current situation as feeling like she was wandering in a desert, emotionally and spiritually. As we talked, I thought of the Israelites in the book of Exodus as they wandered through the desert awaiting entrance into the land that God had promised to them.

We talked about how waiting required patience, which is hard, and how waiting feels like suffering even though we are fine. It’s not like our needs aren’t being met or that we are in danger. It’s just that waiting means we can’t have what we want right now. We feel angst because we don’t really know if we will receive what we want or not. Now, I was really thinking about the Israelites!

Throughout the book of Exodus, as God takes the children of Israel out of slavery from Egypt, He often reiterates a promise that He will bring them to a land that is “flowing with milk and honey”. The land He was promising them was an actual place, but it was not literally flowing with milk and honey. This is an analogy for a land that has an abundance of food and is fertile ground for growing more.

My guess is that, as the Israelites were traveling around through the wilderness, it was likely very difficult to imagine anything even close to “milk and honey”. Their journey first began with provisions they had taken from Egypt, so they didn’t miss Egypt too much at first. Eventually those ran out and they felt regret and longing for the more desirable food of Egypt.

The biggest change, however, was that they were living a nomadic lifestyle in which they were required to practice trust and obedience as they received God’s commands to move from one place to another. They received this direction from the cloud which was an indicator of God’s presence with them. It was a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, and if it moved, they were to follow. This served them in two ways: 1) they learned God was always with them 2) they were given the opportunity to practice following God even if they didn’t know the way or the plan for getting to the promised land. The waiting and not knowing was difficult as it was with my friend.

We ended our conversation that day with a determination to pray for God’s guidance and wait for Him to work things out in His time and in a way that would be for His glory.

Two days later, my friend called me. The person she had been estranged from and was trying to reconcile with responded to her message and wanted to meet for a conversation. She was so relieved and excited! Even though it would be a difficult conversation, it was a glimmer of hope that all would be made right between them.

As I rejoiced with her in the hope she had for resolution, the thought that hope is honey for the soul crossed my mind. I saw her anxiety soothe and her long-suffering turn to hope. As my mind went back to the Israelites, I was reminded of all the things God had done throughout the wilderness wandering that brought moments of hope amid their long-suffering. I imagine these served as a taste of sweet, soothing, healing honey which God had promised would be abundant in the promised land.

Joshua chapter 24 is a monologue by Joshua himself recounting for the Israelites all the things God had done for them before reaching the promised land. God delivered them from Egyptian slavery with a mighty display of power.

He protected them when the Egyptians pursued them. He fought and defeated enemies that they encountered along the way. He rewarded their obedience with giving them victory over cities they set out to conquer. He gave them water from a rock when they were thirsty, and none could be found. He gave them food to nourish them, and they only needed to go out and gather it from the ground. He brought healing to them when they encountered poisonous snakes.

Each trial they faced was an opportunity for God to display His work so they would hold onto the hope of the promised land.

In the 13th verse of Joshua 24, he describes the promised land they were about to inhabit like this: “I have given you a land for which you did not labor, and cities which you did not build; and you dwell in them, you eat of the vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.” As I read this verse, it’s a reminder that we do not earn our right to inhabit heaven, it is a right given to us when we accept the sacrifice of Jesus and follow Him. Jesus told his disciples He was “going to prepare a place” for them like the city the Israelites did not build but dwelt in. In Psalm 23:5, David wrote in His psalm that God “prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemy.”

God still works the same way as He has throughout Scripture, by delivering us from the bondage of sin, through His son, Jesus. He sent His Holy Spirit to dwell in us so we have power over sin. He gives us scripture to guide us throughout our journey. He protects us from our enemy, Satan, and sustains us through this wilderness of long-suffering. I hope as we see God at work in our life or the life of another person, we will bask in the sweet, soothing, calming hope that is honey to the soul while we journey to our own promised land by His goodness and grace.