By Jen Holloway
Then the Lord Brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and an outstretched arm, with great terror, signs, and wonders. And he brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. Deuteronomy 26:8-9
In this text God is not speaking of literal milk and honey. Here, milk, and honey, signify a prosperous and fertile land of abundance and blessing. They also represent the sweetness and nourishment of God’s word and presence. Milk symbolizes nourishment, and sustenance, while honey represents sweetness and delight. This imagery conveys God’s intention to provide for his people abundantly and bless us with good things. I never dreamed almost two years ago I would be living in my “Promise Land.” I always thought my story would read of poverty, addiction, and self-hatred. But God! He has written a different story for my life, and it reads of success, prosperity, fullness of joy, spiritual gifts, and most important, a constant in-filling of the Holy Spirit.
I came to Mary’s Song thinking I was just coming to “another rehab.” Mary’s Song is not a rehab at all, it’s a land flowing with milk and honey. It’s where I experience freedom and healing daily. It’s fertile ground where I have finally been planted never again to be uprooted. It’s a safe place where my roots are going down deep and continuing to grow. It’s a place where my dreams and my visions are coming to life before my very eyes. It’s where I’ve been knitted into a family, and for once in my life, I know I belong here. It’s a place where the only option they offer you is success. It’s a place where I have been given real friendships, and a place where I am learning to be a friend as well. It is a place of love, correction, discipleship, and when you make mistakes, you learn from them and move on. It’s a place I now call home. It’s my promised land.
In Psalms 34:8 King David wrote:
Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is he who takes refuge in him.
I’m so thankful for the grace to hunger and thirst after the things of God. I’m so thankful for the grace to see His goodness and know it’s nothing I have done but it’s all because He loves me that much. I’m so thankful that He reached down from heaven with His mighty hand and pulled me out of my Egypt and placed me in a land flowing with milk and honey.