JOURNEY TO THE HONEY

by Yanike McPherson

Bonus chapter from the book: ‚MINISTRY OF THE HONEY BEE‛ ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Our Christian journey can be likened to the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt
through the Wilderness and to the Promised Land- a land flowing with milk and honey.
It is no simple strategy that the Father orchestrates to deliver us from the bondage of
our oppressors. When God saves us, He does it with a mighty hand. When we have
cried out to Him like the children of Israel and the prodigal son that our burden is too
heavy to bear and that we are truly sorry for turning our backs on Him, He hears us
from His heavenly throne and sends deliverance. Though this deliverance may seem
simple in the eyes of man, in the spiritual realm it is nothing short of the great signs and
wonders which God performed through His servants Moses and Aaron so that the
Pharaoh had to let His people go.
However, an important part of the exodus that is gravely overlooked and sometimes
misinterpreted is the Wilderness experience. This aspect of the journey is no accident or
inconvenience but, just like the mighty work that was carried out to deliver the children
of Israel from Egypt, it was a part of God’s divine plan. The signs and wonders which
occurred in Egypt were necessary to bring physical release whereas the journey through
the Wilderness was necessary for spiritual release or mental breakthrough. It is in the
wilderness season of our Christian journey that the Spirit of the God breaks through our
mental bondage. This is when God is able to really test our hearts and try our motives
as He teaches us His laws and commandments- how to please Him and live securely in
His blessings.
We must understand that the land flowing with milk and honey was not completely
foreign to the children of Israel since there was a point in time when their forefathers
had lived there. This place was the original home and though they were forced out of it
for a time, the longing for their God-given inheritance never ceased but was passed on
through the generations. In the same way, we all have an innate longing for home- the
life which God has prepared for us in Jesus Christ. We do many things in an attempt to
create that space in our physical environment and to fill the void in our spiritual
environment, our souls. The Word of God confirms this in Romans 8:19-23:

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 ‚For the creation eagerly waits with anticipation for God’s sons to be revealed. For the
creation was subjected to futility- not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it- in
hope that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage of corruption into the
glorious freedom of God’s children. For we know that the whole creation has been
groaning together with labor pains until now. And not only that, but we ourselves who
have the Spirit as the first-fruits- we also groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for
adoption, the redemption of our bodies.‛

Therefore, when we end up in the wilderness phase of our journey, we become

dismayed and overwhelmed by the conditions we face. We know in our hearts that this
is not the place that we are destined to live. In truth, the wilderness is a place of
transition where the true children of God are birthed spiritually. In the wilderness we
are given three options: 1) go back into bondage because of the hardship and
temptations that we face; 2) wallow in our misery and ultimately die there; or 3) keep
our eyes fixed on God, and on the destination and promise. The choice that the
physically free people make determines their spiritual liberty because it shows God the
true desire of their hearts. From this point, we move on to the promised place of
complete freedom and abundance, return to physical bondage and lack, or remain in
spiritual bondage being terrorized by the enemy until we die in misery.

GODLY CHARACTER

It is interesting that the Promised Land is connoted by the phrase ‘land flowing with
milk and honey’. Milk and honey are not made by humans but can be harvested in right
timing from what God has provided in nature. However, the fact that these foods are
available does not make them easily accessible. Although in modern times we consider
these foods easily accessible, farmers and beekeepers know the real work that is
required to deliver these items to the market for us to enjoy. It takes training, wisdom,
patience and perseverance to acquire them. Similarly, the Promised Land which the
children of Israel were destined to enter was not built with their own hands, rather it
was prepared by God and required that they put some work into acquiring it.
The mindsets we develop in the desert determine whether or not we get to the
promise and how much of its goodness we get to enjoy. A negative mindset like that of
the spies who were sent by Moses to survey the Promised Land or attitude of the

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children of Israel who lusted after the flesh pots of Egypt will never get us into the place
that God has prepared for us. We need the attitude and zeal and courage of Caleb and
Joshua who said, ‚Let us go up and take possession for we are able to overcome any
resistance‛ (emphasis mine). (Numbers 13:30)
Although the Promised Land was for the whole nation of Israel (all those who
overcame the Wilderness), the land had to be divided among the tribes to make
settlement practical and without confusion. One may think that entering the promise
would have been the end of all trouble because this was obedience to God. On the other
hand, entering really meant starting a war for what belonged to them individually and
as a nation. I greatly admire Caleb’s attitude because he never forgot what was
promised to him by God but held firmly to it in spite of the impending warfare. Instead
of murmuring and cowering, he boldly declared to Joshua, ‚Give me my mountain‛
(Joshua 14:12).
How many of us after mustering up the courage to enter an unknown territory with
threatening enemies would venture to climb a mountain to evict them? It is more
pleasant to imagine that the Promised Land was flat and easy to navigate or that as they
set their feet in it their enemies immediately evacuated. But not so, entering into the
promises of God means that we must wage war for what God told us is our inheritance.
Moreover, we will have to actually climb the mountain (not wander around it) and fight
because it is a matter of life or death entering territory that has been occupied by the
enemy.
Now, one may ask how a people who were so complacent and stubborn in the
Wilderness would be able to overcome even greater obstacles in an unfamiliar territory.
The answer is that the desert is the testing ground of character. God was training and
sanctifying the children of Israel so that they would become mature enough to fight for
and inhabit their inheritance. Likewise, it is the character that is revealed and developed
in the dark times of our spiritual journey which prepares us for and determines our
success on the next leg.
For those who sincerely desire the promises of God, the famine and drought of the
desert will produce a hunger and thirst for righteousness. It will create the appetite for
what God has promised and prepared for us. If you have ever seen a famished person
served food and drink, then you are able to perceive the reason for Caleb’s
assertiveness. The wilderness will do that to you. Actually, that is what God has design
it for- to bring out a true and pure desire for Him.

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 Notwithstanding, the purpose of the wilderness is not to make us savages but our
new appetite allows us to grasp the things of God. Moreover, in the wilderness we only
see God and know His providence. Therefore, we are forced to rely upon Him
completely for our sustenance and survival like the children of Israel. As a result, we
get a deeper understanding of who He is to us and who we are in Him. If we are
faithful and persistent, we become very close to Him in the dry times and like Moses we
become a friend of God.
By spending much time with God and trusting Him with our future we become like
our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Our faith will be cemented and built up and our hope
continually renewed. We will be continuously filled with the fruit of the Holy Spirit
until we start to overflow with His ‚love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance‛ (Galatians 5:22-23). When we add these to
our courage and zeal for the things of God we develop true godly or Christ-like
character.
That is the goal of the wilderness. It does not exist to kill us but to change us into
the image of the One who has saved us and to prepare us to enter in His promises
transformed. It would be foolish of us to withdraw from this stage of our journey since
our own Saviour, Jesus Christ, came to earth and set the same principle for us to follow.
He too went through the wilderness experience and came out stronger, took authority
over what belongs to Him and did the will of God in spite of the obstacles and
temptations which the enemy constantly hurled at Him to get him to give up what God
was preparing Him for.