Mindset Mondays: Hanging Out in the Wilderness

Are you still hanging out in the Wilderness,  the place of punishment? After the ten spies came back and gave a bad report,  God gave them 40 years of wandering in the wilderness until all the men 20 years old and older were dead. He gave them one year of punishment for each day they spied out the land.

Numbers 14:34 – According to the number of days in which you spied out the land [of Canaan], forty days, for each day, you shall bear and suffer a year for your sins and guilt, for forty years, and you shall know My displeasure [the revoking of My promise and My estrangement because of your sin]. One act of disobedience sent them there; they failed to obey God.

Are you enjoying simply hanging out in the wilderness? Are you not willing to enter the promised land? What is it going to take to get you moving? It’s time to step out of the wilderness into the Jordan River, build your memorial, trust God with your battles, and live your abundant life. How can you discern if you are still hanging out in the wilderness? Here are 5 distinctive signs that you are enjoying your wilderness experience:

1. Seeking supernatural provision: God fed you with manna from heaven and water from the rock. These supernatural provisions have you trapped in a slavery mindset. You are so familiar with the concept of receiving everything handed to you that you do not see the value of leaving the wilderness. You do not want to work for your provisions; you want them to fall from heaven. The rock that gave you water has become your stumbling block. It’s time to eat the good of the land.
2. Smothered by the Cloud: With the cloud by day and the fire by night, He protected them and led them. Your vision is cloudy. You do not realize that the same God who spoke to you and protected you in the wilderness is the same God who will protect you when you enter the promised land. The cloud by day and the fire by night will continue to provide divine direction and protection on the other side of the Jordan.
3. Struggling to build: Your memorial stones are still lying in the river. You do not have a heart of gratitude. Instead of thanking God for bringing you through the last 42 years, you are still murmuring and complaining about all you went through to get here. Look at the bigger picture and build on that. Pick up those stones and build that memorial. Be thankful in all things (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
4. Satisfied with Your Situation: You are too comfortable; you have put on your pajamas, sat in the recliner with the TV remote, and are not willing to move. You have seen the abundance on the other side; you have heard of the land flowing with milk and honey; you have seen the size of the fruit. You are too consumed with the size of the inhabitants (situations and circumstances), which God has already told you He would drive out ahead of you. Change your clothes, turn off that TV, and get moving toward the abundant future waiting for you on the other side.
5. Stuck in Egypt: You are operating in fear, not faith. That fear is the very thing that got you stuck in the wilderness to begin with. Sometimes it’s hard to see the end from the beginning, but God knows your future. He has a plan to prosper you, not harm you. Learn to trust by looking back at what He has already done for you. Remember the deliverance from Egypt, the daily provisions from heaven, and the enemies already defeated, but don’t camp out in those memories. 

Stop hanging out in the wilderness, the place of punishment. God has so much more for you. Develop the mindset of an overcomer. For more on transforming your mindset, download my free Mindset Transformation Guide.