Author Jeff Manion uses the biblical story of the Israelite’s journey through the Sinai desert as a metaphor for being in an undesired time of transition. After enduring generations of slavery in Egypt, the descendants of Jacob travel through the desert (the land between) toward their new home in Canaan. They crave the food of their former home in Egypt and despise their present environment. They are unable to go back and incapable of moving forward. Their reactions provide insight and guidance on how to respond to God during our own seasons of difficult transition. The Land Between provides fresh biblical insight for people traveling through undesired and difficult transitions such as foreclosure, unemployment, uncertainty, and failure. Such times provide our greatest opportunity for spiritual growth. God desires to meet us in our chaos and emotional upheaval, and he intends for us to encounter his goodness and provision, his hope and guidance.
What if the times of life that we most desperately seek to avoid---foreclosure, unemployment, parents in declining health, post-graduate uncertainty, business failure, relationship loss--- are actually the periods we most desperately need? It is in these times that God desires to do some of his deepest work in us.
