I waited seven years to come to the little country that I now call home. For so long, I was praying and contending just to get here. It was the goal my eyes had been set on, my promised land. 

When I was in the process of transitioning here, things were not as easy as I had hoped. There were the typical logistical obstacles as well as emotional and relational things I was trying to work through. A couple days before I was due to get on the plane from one Asian country to the next, one of my good friends shared her heart with me. She had just gotten married and she was sharing that it wasn’t as simple or easy as she had expected either. She told me, “Shawna, when it gets hard, I have to remind myself and God that this is my promised land.”  

Sometimes the promise of God doesn’t taste like you think it should. After seven years of anticipation, when I finally arrived here, it was rather anti-climactic. I lived a very slow life as I went through culture shock with a host family. But I woke up each morning and looked out my window at the foothills of the Himalayas (and a bunch of dust and construction and cows) and I chose to thank God for bringing me into my promised land. Now I can taste the milk and honey as I enjoy where God has brought me. 

Walking in God’s promises might take some contending, and maybe even some getting used to, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t good or good for you. Just like the Israelites, we might be surprised or complain when we actually have to fight off giants upon entering the promised land. But as we adjust to the season or place or freedom that God has promised us, it just gets sweeter and sweeter.