FASHIONED for the Highs and Lows
“At the Lord’s command, Moses recorded the stages in their journey. This is their journey by stages…” Numbers 33:2 NIV
What are some of the stages and seasons of our own journeys? Some or all of the items below will apply to everyone, and this is definitely NOT an exhaustive list.
Day of birth. Walking for the first time. First day of school. First game. First concert. Driving for the first time. First dance/prom. First job. First romantic relationship. High school graduation. Starting college or trade school. Internship. College/Trade School graduation. First adult job. Marriage. Children. Job loss. Graduate school. Promotion at a job. First home. Death of a loved one. Health diagnosis of you or someone you love. Complete career change. Moving to another city, state, or country. Children marry and have children. Loss of a spouse. Downsizing later in life. Death.
I have been lingering in Numbers 33 for the last few weeks as I am working through the Bible chronologically again for 2023. Surely I had come upon this chapter before! Numbers 33 records every place that the Israelites stopped on their 40-year journey to Canaan after being released by the Lord from Pharaoh’s grasp. They had been enslaved by him for around 400 years (Genesis 15:13). Let’s take a quick look at the first few verses of Numbers 33:1-4:
Here are the stages in the journey of the Israelites when they came out of Egypt by divisions under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. At the Lord’s command, Moses recorded the stages in their journey. This is their journey by stages: The Israelites set out from Rameses on the fifteenth day of the first month after the Passover. They marched out defiantly in full view of all the Egyptians, who were burying their firstborn, whom the Lord had struck down among them; for the Lord had brought judgment on their gods.
If you continue reading on, verses 5-49 refer to forty stops that they camped at along the way. FORTY. Forty stops in forty years! These stops included multiple deserts, springs, plains, and wilderness. Lots of wilderness. Lots of starting and stopping as they set up camp, and broke it down to move on. And they faced a lot more than just the physical landscape. Lack of resources and lack of faith coupled with grumbling, ungratefulness, and bitterness. The Israelites even wanted to return to the land of their captor. (Numbers 14:4) The highs and lows during these stops were unfathomable and innumerable at minimum; much like how our journeys are today. Full of two steps forward, and 20 steps backward!
So, I want to ask you:
What have the starts and stops on your journey looked like?
What have the highs and lows been?
How many can you count?
Have you “camped” in some places for too long?
How was your attitude during these stops?
Did you ever want to go back to a place that God had “moved” you on from?
The journey of the Israelites after being delivered from the hands of Pharaoh is a beautiful parallel to our current journey with the Lord as we move through this earthly life. The starts and stops coincide with the seasons of our life. We are FASHIONED for the highs and lows of this life because our strength and salvation is found in the Lord alone; just like He told the Israelites in Exodus 6:7-8, “I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.” He is the Lord who brings us through this earthly life and into the promised land, the land that He has called us to dwell in!
I encourage you to read Numbers 33 during this next week. Write down each one of the forty places the Israelites stopped to camp. Count and record the stages in your own journey. Think about and write down answers to the questions I asked above. And rejoice with me about the power of this accounting in Numbers! God has FASHIONED you for every high and low of the journey because He is our God, and we are His people!
Counting and rejoicing with you,
Lindsey Parks
