Daily PresenceSample

In Numbers 33, Moses recounted a terse travelog summarizing Israel’s sojourn from Egypt to the boundary of the Promised Land. In that passage, he repeats at least 41 times the points of the itinerary in terms of “They left . . . and they camped.” Over and over, day by day, mile by mile, the people of Israel made camp and broke camp, made camp and broke camp, trudging from destination to destination along their way to the destiny of promise.

What if we looked back over the course of our lives and re-traced the itinerary of our pilgrimage toward our own destiny of promise? There is value in recalling those places along the way where we “camped and broke camp” in our spiritual sojourn.

At one of those campsites along the way, you may have experienced a physical trial, either injury or illness, but God met you there as a healer. Well and made whole, you broke camp and moved on.

At another campsite, you received God’s provision in a season of financial crisis when you lacked means or sustenance. After accepting God’s provision, you broke camp and moved on.

Down the path, you may have camped in the face of a hopeless, discouraging crisis that defied all odds of working out for you. But God was your miraculous problem-solver, so you broke camp and moved on with confidence and hope.

At the next campsite, perhaps you encountered a broken relationship, divorce or estrangement, and found relationships crumbled in ruins around you. But again, God was your restorer. Renewed and reconciled, you broke camp and moved on.

You may also have come upon a campsite where your career suffered a crisis, like a layoff or the loss of a job you depended on. But God proved to be the Human Resources manager of your life, and you ended up in a situation better than the one you lost. Re-employed and reestablished, you broke camp and moved on.

We could add points to this itinerary, but the illustration is clear: Our lives are pilgrimages to an ultimate land of promise, but the trail leads through a fallen world where we camp out among trials, hardships, illness, and all manners of suffering. But our Savior meets us in those camping places, meets our needs, and enables us to move on.