A Long Journey - February 26, 2009

Scripture: (Num 33:1-2 NKJV) These are the journeys of the children of Israel, who went out of the land of Egypt by their armies under the hand of Moses and Aaron. {2} Now Moses wrote down the starting points of their journeys at the command of the LORD. And these are their journeys according to their starting points:

Observation: In one chapter, Moses traces the journey from Egypt to the borders of the Promised Land, recounting all the stops without necessarily talking about the events that took place at each of these with the exception of the death of Aaron. This is not the first nor the last time Moses takes the time to remind the Israelites of all the places where they have traveled and how the Lord blessed them and protected them even during those times when the people were complaining to and about His work for them.

Application: I was born in Bucaramanga, in the South-American country of Colombia, but only lived there during my first eighteen months of my life as my family moved to the capital city of Bogotá, where we lived until my mother, younger brother, and I moved to the United States.
In the United States, our journey has taken us to live in Michigan, Maryland, Oklahoma, New Jersey, Virginia, Wisconsin, Delaware, and now here in Minnesota; we have been a sort of Adventist gypsies, going from place to place wherever God takes us. Several years ago our daughters voiced some of their discontent because they had not grown like some many others, living in one place all their lives, and growing with the same friends all through school. While we recognize that so much movement had its drawbacks, we also wanted them to appreciate all the opportunities we have had, so we began a list of all the places we had visited, all the things we had seen, all the fun we had enjoyed; by the time we were finished, our travel-log of sorts covered several pages. To date, we have visited almost all the fifty states and several foreign countries; as a result of that experience, our girls realized how enjoyable our journeys had been and how much richer our lives were for having been to all those places, particularly when they thought that many of their friends from school had never left their city or county, much less the state where they had always lived. In addition, they feel very comfortable traveling to different places, they can converse with people of various lands, and can relate to what it is like to be in one or another place because they have either lived there or visited at one time or another. And when we count all the thousands of miles traveled, with God’s protection, it gives us one more reason to thank Him and praise Him.

Prayer: Father, thank You for all the opportunities You have given us to travel and see so many different and beautiful places and for providing us with your protection through thousands of miles. But most of all, Father, thank You for the time we have spent together while enjoying those various trips.