Promised Land

I thought I lived in the Promised Land. That land flowing with abundance.
Exodus 3:8 tells us that it was "a good and spacious land. "
A big old house that had a kitchen large enough to hold twenty or more around the table. Enough bedrooms, ample space, plenty of land. That's what the Amplified version says about that same Exodus 3:8. It was a "land of plenty. "
In my mind it was overflowing with all that I had dreamed about: trees, barn and a fresh water spring. I could not have asked for anything more. It felt like the good life.
Yep! That's what I had.
Until, like the Isrealites, we were turned away from that land brimming over.  We now live in an upstairs apartment with no home to call "mine, " no long table or even a yard. It has been easy to believe that the brimming-over land was behind us, mocking and unattainable.
After losing our dream house, having a major house fire in this home, coping with wayward child and drug addiction, and more recently, strokes and serious cancer, I am beginning to question my belief that we were in the land of plenty.
What if this is really the Promised Land?
What if this season of life, when our possessions are few, and the kitchen is crunched, what if, this is the good and spacious land?
In that dream house, we had plenty alright. Plenty of stuff. Tangible things we could touch and feel and enjoy.
Here? We don't have all that. So much of it has been stripped away. But we have something far more valuable. We have more of God.
Here, in the land of concrete and noise, I have recognized my Father. When there was no escape to the barn or the fields, I ran to Jesus instead. I have experienced the hard lessons of yielding and obedience and the resulting joy. I have recognized my endless need for my Lord and have grown in my knowledge of who He is. He has become more, while I have become less.
Now, given the choice, between the stuff of our dream house, or the experience of Jesus, I would choose Jesus.
In my mind this is the Promised Land, a land flowing over with more of my God. Isn't that what He has always wanted us to have? An abundance of Him?
With Miriam, I sing praises to such a faithful God.