“If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country -- a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them." (Hebrews 11:15-16 NIV)
After the children of Israel had been delivered from Egypt, after they had been chased by Pharaoh's army, and after they'd escaped through the Red Sea, they grumbled. They wished they were back home again, even if home to them was altogether incompatible with the plan and purpose God had claimed on their lives. They'd rather go back than go forward, or rather go forward, than just sit. The worst place of all, they believed, was being stuck there in between.
The comfort zone of home life can often be just as damaging to our spiritual growth as the enticing attraction of future ambition. That's why sometimes, in order to get us adequately prepared for the moments to come, God may not allow us to return to the way things used to be, the place where we could easily become lulled into complacency. When God needs us bold and fervent and clear of mind -- when He wants our faith primed and pregnant for the fire to fall -- He'll often call us to an in-between place. Not quite where we're going to be, but not all the way back to where we were. Life in the middle can be unsettling, but don't be discouraged. Stay put. Trust God, and in due time He'll move you on.
– Adapted from Priscilla Shirer in “Elijah: Faith and Fire”
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