Wilderness

I guess it takes half of the sting out of pain and a difficult time when I can just acknowledge it as is: I am in a wilderness. Yeah. Not in the sense that I feel really distant and dry from God, but that I'm really in a season of "wandering", searching, and waiting. YET, the cool thing I realized the other day, was that even as the Israelites were "wandering" in the wilderness for 40 years, they actually DID get closer to the Promised Land! I thought that was so cool. They were treading on ground that would get the next generation closer to the Land and that they wouldn't have to cover again. Even this wilderness time is not a waste and even in the wilderness, God is faithful--He is providing food and drink and is not "letting my sandals wear out."

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Something else I've been contemplating is this: Are the promises of Jesus to be fully realized in the present? Yes, I know they won't have their full fulfillment until Heaven, but to what extent should the Christian's life characterize the reality of promises such as "Fear not," "Give your burdens to me," "Have life to the fullest," "Where I am, there is freedom" ...

Who is actually living in the reality of this? Wouldn't life be grand if we actually lived in these proposed promises? Yet, isn't it available to us?