Wilderness Vibes

Hello friends!

I am writing to you from the bumpy roads of Israel’s I-95 (N? S? Don’t tell anyone on the trip but I have little to no sense of direction and little to no sense of where we seem to be going. At almost any time.) I’m just along for the ride and trust Terry and Laura to lead us onward. Reason #287 why this trip is totally worth it - you get to take a break from planning your life away and let someone else do it for you - someone who does it really well. As a super planner in real life, this has been a wonderful, wonderful break!

I am also writing to you in the late afternoon of a busy day with the subtle acceptance that I still have jet lag and may have lost my mind. I know there is no need for me to explain the beauty that is jet lag but let me tell you, even on day three, late afternoon has become my sleepy time. If this blog starts heading south just know that I plan to interview our tour guide Yehoda tomorrow and you know that blog post is going to be good!

So to get us started today and get my mind working again, I have a quick riddle for you: What do you get when you combine a quick morning jaunt across the Israeli desert with a relatable biblical narrative and the wisdom and teaching of Terry Feix?

The quick and easy answer that doesn’t seem quick or easy because it’s almost two sentences long: An amazing biblical lesson connecting old, historical people, places and things directly to our current personal lives and spiritual faiths. I knew in my mind before this trip began that we would hear some amazing sermons from Terry. But I have been blown away by his ability to make these places come to life in order to strengthen our faith. This trip is more than just seeing cool sites or checking out some ancient artifacts. To me, this trip is about learning more about who God is, what He has done, and how we can trust Him more and more.

We began our day with a hike through the Israeli desert. Which looks little like the sandy desert that probably came to mind or the dessert you may have also been thinking about (I’m thinking about lemon sorbet because that just really sounds good right now.) Instead, this desert was rocky, hilly and kind of green. Just enough to let those mountain goats get their food fix in the winter months but not enough to categorize this area as hilly plains or plainy hills.

With this wilderness as the backdrop, Terry spoke to us about the wilderness narrative that is found throughout the Bible and is the “foundational template for how God deals with humanity throughout the Old and New Testament.” Reading from Exodus, Terry talked about how God brought the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, but used their forty years of wandering to bring Egypt out of the Israelites.

“They set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and the people of Israel said to them, ‘Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.’”
- Exodus 16: 1-3

During this period, the Israelites were not lost - they were just not ready to enter into the promised land. Instead, God had to use this time of suffering and hardship, “That He might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.” (Duet 8:2)

This is the essence of faith - choosing to be humbled by God and reliant on him in order to grow in trust of His purpose and plan. How incredibly applicable is this? To be reminded that God uses our hardships, our wandering, our desert periods to increase our faith. I know that for many of us standing there on that rocky hill, this was exactly what we needed to hear to have the right perspective on what God is doing in our lives back at home.

After this morning, we visited the Wadi Overlook, the En Gedi, and Qumran. All amazing places (I have to be honest though, I retained nothing on the Wadi Overlook because I was freaking out that we were standing on this tall, narrow cliff with no rails!)

The En Gedi was where David hid in caves to hide from King Saul.

Qumran is where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. Fun fact - it’s also the location of a pretty crazy pseudo Jewish group of men that loved ritual baths, selling honey made from dates and writing down scripture in caves. It’s crazy but amazing that these men were able to preserve Old Testament scripture so central to our Christian faith.

Well friends, that’s all I got today. Thank you for checking out the blog!!