Laurie Hopkins

It seems as though we are always looking behind us.  

The Israelites were heading toward the Promised Land and yet they had a tendency to “look back” to Egypt each time they faced a perceived trial.  

In this passage the Israelites are reminded of the difference between the land from which they have come and the land to which they are going.  

Egypt was a small garden, one that could be sown and watered by foot, even as a vegetable garden.  

It sustained their individual needs in some fashion. 

The land ahead, however, the Promised Land, was a much larger land, one of hills and valleys and rain sent from heaven; and even more important, a land that the eye of the Lord watch over.  

This land was a land that would sustain the needs, not only of an individual, but of a nation.  Sometimes it is important for us to distinguish clearly between where we’ve been and where we are going.  

Sometimes in the process of transition we began to equate the new thing with the old thing and lose our feelings of expectation.  

But our God doesn’t move us backward, or even keep us in a place of maintenance; 

He is always working toward bringing us to new levels and dimensions. 

Are you in a place of transition today? 

Moving between the garden of Egypt and the Promised Land?  

Be reminded that where you are coming from was a place of individual provision, but where you are going will bring provision to a nation.  

Don’t be deceived or become weary in the transition.  

The only need to look back is to remind us of the sheer scale of what is ahead. 

Maintain your expectation for the land that the Lord is bringing you into.  

For the eyes of the Lord are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year!

Seasons come and seasons go.  

There are things that mark or note new seasons throughout the year, like Thanksgiving noting the onset of fall, and things that mark or note new seasons throughout our life. 

New seasons require a shift.  

We often look ahead with hope to the next season, but when approaching the actual shift we find ourselves unsettled and out of sorts.  

There is a discomfort.  

The old season no longer fits and the new season doesn’t fit yet.  

So we find ourselves in that time of transition, change and adjustment.  

The thing with changes in seasons is that we need to learn to move with the flow.  

There is no point in grieving the old season or fearing the new season.  

There is much value, however, in being thankful for that which has transpired and that which is to transpire.  

We can take the edges of the shift by not inflating the “benefits” of the old season and by not inflating the “challenges or changes” that will occur in the new season.  

A large part of success in the transition is to meet the new season head on, believing with all your heart that what the Lord has for you is good and that you are prepared to take it on. 

As we shift yearly seasons right now, do you find yourself in a season of change in your life?  

Greet it enthusiastically and meet it head on with confidence, being prepared to squeeze from it every experience you can!

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

When looking at this verse we often focus on the “be anxious for nothing” part.  

This morning I want us to focus on the “with thanksgiving” part.  

When we go to pray, we are to do so with thanksgiving.  

Prayer time is a time to build intimate relationship.  

It is not just a time to mark a “to do” off the list of the many things we need to accomplish or a time just to get things. 

When we go to prayer, we are told that we are to make our requests with thanksgiving.  

If we are just offering up continual lists of all the things we “need”, that leaves us with a perspective being unhappy with what we have and more focused on what we believe we don’t have. 

When we come to prayer with the intention of thanksgiving = eucharistia=gratitude, actively grateful language, thankfulness; it changes our whole perspective on our current position and who God is.  

We begin to see ourselves in a place of blessing rather than of want and need.  

We begin to understand our God as a good, good Father and the intimacy in our relationship begins to grow and deepen.  

Today is thanksgiving Sunday.

 It is a day to worship our God, to come before Him in thanksgiving, to lift up our hands, extended, in confession, praise and thanksgiving.  

A time to actively change our perspective on where we are and who God is.  

A time to intentionally begin to deepen and grow that relationship with Him.  

Go forth in intentional thanksgiving today! 

Be blessed, be a blessing!