Adventures in The Odyssey

I’d like to tell you about a little adventure we had, but first I’d like to examine some scripture to set the stage.

Deuteronomy is Moses’ farewell address to the Israelites from the plains of Moab right before they were to enter the promised land. The book contains three sermons given by Moses, the first of which include a recount of what’s been going on the last forty years. A lot of that you find in the book of Numbers as well. The name of the book of Numbers was actually “Bemidbar,” meaning, “in the desert.” Chapter 33 of numbers pretty much sums it up. If you read that chapter and get out a map, it would seem that they were zig-zagging all over the place but not really going anywhere. But in reality, God was doing something in them. He was taking them somewhere, but first he had to refine them in the desert.

In Deuteronomy 8, Moses is connecting the dots for them. The Israelites were worn slap out. No doubt, many of them didn’t quite understand why they had been wandering all over the desert. Chapter 8 starts with, “Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that the Lord promised on oath to your forefathers. 2 Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. 3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 4 Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. 5 Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.”

We see here that the ultimate goal is for God’s people to walk in HIs will and follow his commands. We know that it’s just not natural for any of us to do this. As we raise our children, we don’t have to teach them how to be disobedient. It comes naturally. We have to teach them to obey. How do we teach them these things? Well, one good way is to put them in situations, in a controlled environment, give them a clear command and then watch them closely to make sure they keep your command. Blanket time is a great method that we learned from the Duggars. You put a baby on a blanket, tell them it’s blanket time, and make it clear that they are not to cry or get off the blanket. If they do, you correct them. Eventually, they realize that it’s better to obey.

We see in verse five that God disciplines us the same way that a man disciplines his son. Moses reminded them how the Lord humbled them and tested them in order to see what was in their hearts; in order to teach them to keep his commands. He was preparing them to enter the promised land.

Now, as Christians, what is the promised land and what is the desert? The promised land is Heaven, right? And the desert is simply the life that we live this side of Heaven, right? Kind of, but not really. For us, we can have the promised land today. Now it’s certainly not the promised land that we will inherit on the other side of eternity. We will still have many trials. But it doesn’t have to feel like we are wandering around in the desert. As we walk through our lives, we will face one test after another? And do we not sometimes think, “When are these tests going to end? When are we going to pass and be done with all the testing?” Well, I’ve got news for you. Not until we take our last breath and enter into eternity will they end. We just have to keep running the race. The question is, “Are we okay with that?”

We missed last Sunday because we had gone to Fayetteville to see my mom. It started off wonderfully. There was a plant nursery that I had been wanting to visit for a while. We were going to stop by there on the way and pick up a special fig tree I had been wanting and then be on our way to my mom’s. While we were there, the owner gave us an hour long tour and kept blessing Olivia with free plants since she had just celebrated her birthday.

We eventually made it to my mom’s and had a great time there. We woke up early Sunday morning and we barely made it out of the hotel in time, where the gps said we’d make it to a church in Asheboro just in time. Paige and I were fidgeting with the heat because it wasn’t working. Then I saw that the temperature gauge was all the way above the H. We pulled over and, long story short, we had to call AAA and get towed to the shop. It was our water pump, which is a very expensive fix on a minivan.

As a result of many similar trials we’ve been through in the past, I was immediately reminded to pray first. So we prayed with the kids. Here is where it gets really cool. As we unloaded all of the kids and the car seats, Paige made her way in to a Wing restaurant for lunch, and as I was talking with the tow truck driver, a man came out to me and said he saw what was going on and offered to take his family home and come back and get all of us to take us anywhere we needed to go. I was humbled but grateful to him and took him up on his offer. Then I made it in to my family and decided we were going to go ahead and do our devotions at the restaurant since we missed church. As we were reading Proverbs, the manager of the restaurant interrupted me, explaining that she had overheard what was going on and said she wanted to buy us lunch. We were again humbled but so grateful.

We took the opportunity to show the kids that even though we were stranded, God will always take care of us. When we got to the auto shop and received the bad news, my mom then told me that she would put us up in a hotel for the night so we could get our van fixed and head back the next day. As we all walked down the busy road, carrying all of our luggage (maybe a little reminiscent of the Israelites wandering through the desert), Wesley and Olivia said this reminded them of an Adventures in Odyssey (a Christian radio program they sometimes listen to). And then they made a joke about the fact that our van is an Odyssey.

When we got into the hotel, I gathered all of them around and talked to them about the significance of this trip. They were having a blast and we were all amazed at the ways God was showing up. You would have thought we were at Disney or something, with the fun time they were having. So I decided we needed to do something to remember this occasion. When we picked up the van I said that we were going to plant this special fig tree and name it something special so that we will never forget this experience. Wesley and Olivia agreed that we should name it “Odyssey.” So when we plant it, we’ll put a plant tag on it with the name, “Odyssey” on it. Paige pointed out to me that Odyssey actually means, “a long wandering or voyage usually marked by many changes of fortune.” Ha! Go figure.

It all came together as I was thinking about what I would be doing with this tree. You see, fig trees in our climate can easily die back to the roots in the winter time. I’ve been researching ways to prevent this. One way is utilizing a method called, “pinching.” As the new vertical growth emerges, you remove it. What this does is forces the tree to focus on the lower parts of the tree. It will strengthen the existing branches, which will make it stronger and more likely to survive the winter. Another added bonus is that it will actually force the tree to produce more fruit.

This tree serves as a perfect example of what God was doing with the Israelites in the desert and it serves a perfect example of what God does in our lives. Yes, it can hurt when he pinches us, but we have to remember that this is God’s way of growing us and teaching us to walk in His ways. I was once prone to worry and stress when hit with a trial, but I now realize what’s going on and turn to the Lord. And guess what, though I passed the test in Fayetteville, another soon followed as I had to replace our water heater in our home just a couple days after returning. And then, while I was actually in the process of replacing our water heater, Paige called, broken down in Landis, with a completely shot transmission. Even though we passed the test in Fayetteville, we were met with two more. But we did not fret. We prayed. And we are trusting God that he will see us through.

And again I was reminded that life, this side of eternity, is our desert. But it can also be the promised land. The difference is whether or not you respond in faith when met with trials. Only then can we truly do as James admonished us, considering it pure joy whenever we face trials of many kinds. I hope you can find this. It makes all the world of difference.