Back to the Beginning
Moving Forward (Day 2) // Prayer365
“Then GOD said, “You’ve been going around in circles in these hills long enough; go north. Command the people, You’re about to cut through the land belonging to your relatives, the People of Esau who settled in Seir. They are terrified of you, but restrain yourselves. Don’t try and start a fight. I am not giving you so much as a square inch of their land. I’ve already given all the hill country of Seir to Esau—he owns it all. Pay them up front for any food or water you get from them.” Then we turned around and went back into the wilderness following the route to the Red Sea, as GOD had instructed me. We worked our way in and around the hills of Seir for a long, long time. GOD, your God, has blessed you in everything you have done. He has guarded you in your travels through this immense wilderness. For forty years now, GOD, your God, has been right here with you. You haven’t lacked one thing.” - Deuteronomy 2:1-7 MSG
We started out this week by saying we must prepare for the promotion because God will not promote us into something we’re not prepared for. But more importantly, we must understand that preparation begins in the heart. Although the Israelites had left Egypt, somehow Egypt was still within them. They were emotionally attached to their past although it was damaging and traumatic. They longed to be back in the place where they were enslaved. And even though God had spent the last year preparing them for their next, they couldn’t walk into the new because they hadn’t released the old.
As we fast forward 39 years to where we are in our text, we find that the last of that unbelieving generation had passed away and God is ready to take them forward. He instructs them to go back into the wilderness following the route to the Red Sea. The Red Sea is the place where they witnessed their greatest victory, but it’s also the place where their journey began. The route to the Red Sea would forever be a reminder of where God has brought them from and what He’s brought them through. I find it interesting that God would give the instruction to go this way. We must see that before He allowed them to move forward, He instructed them to go back… back to the beginning.
Over the last several months I’ve been sharing with you my personal journey of how God has been working in my life. For years I felt that I was like the Israelites, going in circles, stuck in the cycles of life. A musician in the church, then worship leader, then preacher and pastor but still feeling as though there was something wrong, something holding me back from moving forward. My breakthrough was not a magical moment, it didn’t happen like I thought it would. My twisted perspective of God’s word led me to believe that my breakthrough would involve elaborate theatrics but it didn’t. Breakthrough happened when I went to the place I didn’t want to go and that was back to the beginning. He showed me that my forward motion was held up because of unforgiveness in my heart for those who had hurt me in my past.
So I began the journey of my healing by forgiving those who had hurt me, by interceding on their behalf. But it didn’t stop there. One day I arrived to the church to prepare for Online Service and before I could go through the door, I felt pressed to call one of those people from my past. So I called, he answered and I began to ask how he was doing. Then suddenly the conversation took a sharp turn and I found myself asking for forgiveness. Because for years instead of forgiving him, I desired that he felt remorse for what he had done to me. The problem is this mindset did not demonstrate God’s unconditional love and it did not extend grace. In this I want you to see that God had me to go back before I could go forward.
What have you been avoiding in this season? Perhaps this is a time for you to take a step back and deal with an issue so that you can move in the Rhythms of His Grace. So that you can come out of the cycle and so that you can move forward. I encourage you to pray because this is not a simple task. It’s not something magical where we can say three special words and it be done, but it requires courage and grace. Because as humans, we are weak and in desperate need of God’s grace; in desperate need of the strength of Jesus to meet us where we are. He’s ready to meet you today in the place of prayer.
I'm praying with you and for you,
Pastor Enrique Brooks
We started out this week by saying we must prepare for the promotion because God will not promote us into something we’re not prepared for. But more importantly, we must understand that preparation begins in the heart. Although the Israelites had left Egypt, somehow Egypt was still within them. They were emotionally attached to their past although it was damaging and traumatic. They longed to be back in the place where they were enslaved. And even though God had spent the last year preparing them for their next, they couldn’t walk into the new because they hadn’t released the old.
As we fast forward 39 years to where we are in our text, we find that the last of that unbelieving generation had passed away and God is ready to take them forward. He instructs them to go back into the wilderness following the route to the Red Sea. The Red Sea is the place where they witnessed their greatest victory, but it’s also the place where their journey began. The route to the Red Sea would forever be a reminder of where God has brought them from and what He’s brought them through. I find it interesting that God would give the instruction to go this way. We must see that before He allowed them to move forward, He instructed them to go back… back to the beginning.
Over the last several months I’ve been sharing with you my personal journey of how God has been working in my life. For years I felt that I was like the Israelites, going in circles, stuck in the cycles of life. A musician in the church, then worship leader, then preacher and pastor but still feeling as though there was something wrong, something holding me back from moving forward. My breakthrough was not a magical moment, it didn’t happen like I thought it would. My twisted perspective of God’s word led me to believe that my breakthrough would involve elaborate theatrics but it didn’t. Breakthrough happened when I went to the place I didn’t want to go and that was back to the beginning. He showed me that my forward motion was held up because of unforgiveness in my heart for those who had hurt me in my past.
So I began the journey of my healing by forgiving those who had hurt me, by interceding on their behalf. But it didn’t stop there. One day I arrived to the church to prepare for Online Service and before I could go through the door, I felt pressed to call one of those people from my past. So I called, he answered and I began to ask how he was doing. Then suddenly the conversation took a sharp turn and I found myself asking for forgiveness. Because for years instead of forgiving him, I desired that he felt remorse for what he had done to me. The problem is this mindset did not demonstrate God’s unconditional love and it did not extend grace. In this I want you to see that God had me to go back before I could go forward.
What have you been avoiding in this season? Perhaps this is a time for you to take a step back and deal with an issue so that you can move in the Rhythms of His Grace. So that you can come out of the cycle and so that you can move forward. I encourage you to pray because this is not a simple task. It’s not something magical where we can say three special words and it be done, but it requires courage and grace. Because as humans, we are weak and in desperate need of God’s grace; in desperate need of the strength of Jesus to meet us where we are. He’s ready to meet you today in the place of prayer.
I'm praying with you and for you,
Pastor Enrique Brooks
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