“And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (Galatians 3:29 KJV)
Just the other day, I was thinking about the Israelites and the long trip they made to the promised land of Canaan. A covenant God made with Abraham long before the trip, victory was promised before they even struck out for the land of milk and honey. It just needed to be claimed. However, it would have only taken 10 days at the most to reach Canaan from where they were. So why did it take 40 years to reach the Promised Land?
A lot of times I find myself in 40-year mode. A journey that could take me 10 days presses on and on, all because God just can’t get me to listen up! “Hey, Brooke.” God calls. “Pay attention! You missed the Canaan exit yet again!” (Oddly enough, God sounds a little like me when I do my best backseat driving.)
Do you ever find yourself there too? Missing the exit to the good things God has in store for you? If so, you know it’s not our feet that keep us from Canaan. It’s our minds.
The Bible says “For as he [a man] thinks in his heart so is he.” (Proverbs 23:7)
If we are stuck in a sour mindset, our lives are going to produce sour fruit. If we are focused on the negative, no matter how in tune with God we are, we are going to miss that exit time and time again until we get our thinking in line with God’s.
God could have easily given up on the Israelites. He could have looked down and said “Sheesh, people. This is getting old. Canaan is 10 days away and this is plain ridiculous.” But He didn’t give up on His promise no matter how off course they were.
What are the thoughts you are dwelling on today? Are you living the kind of life that gets you to the Promised Land in days or years? If you’ve been struggling to get ahead for years and you haven’t seen much luck, maybe you are just going about things the wrong way, maybe you are in a 40-year mentality mode.
There have been moments in my life when my thinking has been so out of tune with God that I felt like I was on a carousel! I would get so close to the Promised Land exit, God would just about have me right where I needed to be and then I would get distracted with negative thinking. Alas, there I’d sit on that up-and-down pink horse just watching my exit pass by.
If you are so far stuck in negative thinking that you think God doesn’t have a promised land for your life, go back and read Jeremiah 29:11.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” (NLT)
Note the ninth word of that verse: YOU! “For I know the plans I have for YOU!”
God has a promised land in store for all of His children and He wants to see us enter into that covenant He has with each of us. Your Canaan could be the renewing of your marriage, the salvation of your children, being set free from the bondage of illness, or just all-around freedom from negative thinking in general. Only God knows what that Canaan is for you. He wants to see you through to the Promised Land!
The first step to leaving Egypt will be the same step that carries you into Canaan — you have to get your thinking in line with God’s. But how do we do that? The amplified version of 2 Corinthians 10:5 tells us this,
“[Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One)…” (AMPC)
God tells us right there in black and white that if we are going to be obedient to our Father and stand up to the whiles of the devil, we have to take every thought, every reasoning (doubt, unbelief, excessive figuring things out) captive and then turn it around to match His Word.
When you are walking through Egypt and pressing for Canaan don’t let your feet get weary. God will carry you safely in His arms. He only asks your mind to do the walking. If you are battling unforgiveness, doubt, fear, anger, illness — whatever is taking your thoughts captive, remember, just like the Israelites, God has promised you freedom from that captivity. When Jesus hung His head on the cross, you were set free. You only have to claim your freedom.
Don’t spend 40 years in the wilderness. God wants you to step into your promised land today!
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