A Land of Hills and Valleys

For the land you are entering to possess is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and irrigated by hand as a vegetable garden. But the land you are entering to possess is a land of mountains and valleys, watered by rain from the sky. It is a land the LORD your God cares for. He is always watching over it from beginning to the end of the year. – Deuteronomy 11:10-12

The land of Goshen where the Israelites had lived probably encompassed the vast delta of the Nile River. There was always water. It is no wonder that the Egyptians viewed the Nile as a god for it must have seemed to them that they drew their very lives from it. They irrigated not just their patches of onions and melons, but their grain fields with its waters.

The time has come for us to move from surviving by our own hand to living by the hand of God. We have been dependent on the world’s system long enough – perhaps too long. It is time to move into our inheritance in the kingdom of God, to possess our own land, living not as tenants but as kings and priests.

The move requires us to leave behind our old comfortable idols. In those days we trusted in what we could see. The river was before us. There was no doubting it. It will not be so in the land to which we are traveling. We will be completely dependent on God’s care and concern. If rain does not fall, we will fail. From day to day we will not see the showers coming. We will need faith.

It is not surprising that the Lord Himself taught us to pray, “Give us today the bread we need for today.” He instructed the Israelites to gather manna only sufficient for today’s meal; do not try to hoard it until tomorrow. Depend on Me.

In the kingdom we are to trust in God alone and to trust Him in the now. Yesterday we were talking about hearing His voice in our moment by moment decisions. That is another facet of this same dependence and trust. The last thing Jesus told the believers before His ascension was not to worry about the times or the seasons. He reiterates what He had told them earlier, that is, to take care of today’s business today and leave tomorrow until it is today. Sow and reap according to His guidance and direction. Do not be swayed by the externals, by voices of fear and despair. Sow your seed in accordance with the seasons of the kingdom.

It may be dry right now, but the eyes of the LORD watch over you and the rains will come. The furrows will be softened, and the dead, dry ground will bring forth in abundance according to the seed we have planted.