05 October 2011

On Wednesday, we drove back to Seinäjoki where Gayle spoke in their weekly revival night. It was live-streamed on the internet and also recorded for a radio program to be broadcasted later this fall.

These Wednesday night revival meetings, called “Send the Rain”, have been going on ever since 1995. And still today the church gets filled up Wednesday after Wednesday as people from surrounding towns and cities, sometimes even hundreds of kilometers away from Seinäjoki, travel there to be a part of what God is doing.

Gayle’s message, titled “The land in between”, certainly touched every soul present that night. All of us go through that place on the way to our destiny. As Gayle put it, it is not possible to avoid the land in between if we seriously want to pursue the call of God in our lives.

To not get discouraged in the land in between, it is important first of all to realize that we’re in one. So often, when things seem to go wrong and the fulfillment of the visions and prophetic words once given to us in the past seem to tarry and not come to pass, we immediately start doubting God, sometimes even blaming him for it all. Just as the Israelites in the desert did on the way to the promised land.

It is so important for us to understand that in the land in between, we learn valuable lessons that cannot be learnt in the promised land. It is actually a place of the presence of God if we allow it to be, but it can also become a place where we grow bitter.

How long the land in between is? We don’t know. There’s no quick way to get out of there if we really want to be taught by the Holy Spirit.

But the wonderful news is that it is possible to experience life-giving faith in this difficult place as well as His miracle working power. The plan and purpose of God is that we emerge out of the land in between as changed people, ready for the task and the call He has for us.

But how we respond to the chance He has given us, depends on us. So often we are just like the Israelites, always complaining and asking: “Why have you left me here? Why do you bless everyone else but not me?” The land in between can become a fertile ground for groaning and discouragement, but also for transformation, growth and provision. We decide whether the journey in the land in between becomes our spiritual growth or spiritual decline.

So often however, we try to eliminate this place out of our lives because we don’t like it.

It’s uncomfortable.

But if we only allow God to work in us there, then it can turn into the greatest blessing of our lives. It is not a place to fear, it is the transitioning place on our way to the promised land. It is the fertile ground for bearing wonderful fruit.

What kind of fruit do we produce? Who are we becoming in this land in between? What will be the fruit of our land in between? Josef was in his land in between for 13 years. But in those years his life had impact, it was blessed, a place where he saw God’s faithfulness, where God provided for him, transformed him and preparing him for his Promised land.

Let us allow God to produce the beautiful fruit in our land in between. Let us allow him to change us, take care of us and teach us to trust in him more. so that when we arrive in the promised land, we are ready and prepared, bearing all the good fruit.

Praise God for this encouraging and up-lifting word. May it also bless you and help you on your way to your promised land! From here, we will continue to Tampere, where Gayle will be teaching in a bible school, ministering to local leaders, and preaching Sunday morning and afternoon service at the Pentecostal Church of Tampere. If you happen to be in the area, don’t miss out on these events. Come and join us and get blessed!