I was reading in the Amplified Bible about the children of Israel and their journey through the wilderness. It says in Deuteronomy 1:2, it is only eleven days journey yet Israel took forty years to get beyond it. It took them 40 years to get beyond the wilderness.

I thought about many people whom I have known who have gone through wilderness experiences and never gotten beyond them.

What I mean is that they are still holding on to the disappointment or the hardship that occurred in the wilderness. I get emails every day from these people - something bad has happened in their lives and they keep reliving those bad times.

When people hold on to things - it only causes harm. I have several family members who tend to hold grudges - do you know anyone like that? They get hurt or get their feelings hurt and they hold on to that hurt. They not only hold on to it but they nurse it and feed it and before you know it the bitterness from that hurt shadows every aspect of their lives.

It begins to torment their mind, you can hear it in their voice when they talk about that person - you can literally hear the bitterness. The stress of the situation begins to affect their bodies and before you know it, they are sick all the time and can't figure out why.

The Bible teaches us that bitterness and unforgiveness will bring sickness to your body. Worry and stress is medically proven to bring sickness to our bodies. Holding on to that grudge is simply not worth the cost.

But that was a sidetrack - I am not talking about holding a grudge really - I am talking about getting past the wilderness. I don't know what your wilderness experience is; it may be a broken marriage. It may be a child that rebelled. It may be devastation in your finances. It may be an attack on your health or the health of a loved one. Whatever it is, find a way to get beyond it. Find a way to walk through it and not make camp there for forty years.

The Bible says the children of Israel complained and murmured in the wilderness. They complained when they had no food and they complained when they had manna. They complained when they had no meat and they complained when they had meat. They complained that God spoke directly to Moses and they ran when God wanted to speak with them. Don't be that way. Don't complain - try to find the good things in your life. Look for those things that are blessings in your life.

I know when I was walking through my wilderness a few years ago - my grandson, Bryson, helped me tremendously. He didn't know he helped me; he was just a little boy. But when I would be at my weakest point, he would run through the door and yell 'hey Da!' Yes, that's what he called me - Da. And it would pick me up and bring me joy. I can't tell you how many times I have thanked God for that little boy and the joy he brought me in the wilderness.

The Bible says to think on good things - although that may be hard at times, there is always a good thing you can choose to think on.
 

I went through a rough time, I lost a lot. But I refuse to camp there. I choose instead to remember the way God brought me through.

Do you know what is beyond it? The Promised Land. Everything that God said to you before the wilderness and in the wilderness is still what He is saying to you today.

As you move beyond the wilderness - you step into the fullness of all God is - you step into the Promised Land. You step into your destiny.

If you allow the hurt of the wilderness to remain - you may die there - not physically but spiritually. Don't die in the wilderness - move beyond it. Don't allow the hurt from your past to stop the blessing of your future. Don't allow hardness to hinder your walk with God. Leave the past in the wilderness - take with you the lessons of the wilderness and move on - into the land that God has declared and decreed is yours. Into your land of promise.

Kim Potter