CHECK POINT

A Leadership and Intercessory Letter written to those who desire Integrity in the Inward Parts  (Psalm 51:6)

“Where Did You Say You Were Going?”

Or

“Wagons Ho!”

Written by Esther Dummer - July 26, 2001

Fourth Edition - September 2001

Most of the time the things that the Lord gives me to write, express His heart towards the less popular subjects that relate to revival.  Now, God has laid on my heart, in the middle of writing the articles, a time to stop at Elim,  (an encampment during the Children of Israel’s journey to their promised land, Exodus 15:27) where there are 12 wells and 70 palm trees, for a place of rest.   I trust that the journey you take with this writing will refresh you today to keep on moving forward.  Esther Dummer

“I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land.  Selah   Psalms 143:6

 Please take note that in the writing of this story of revival, from the viewpoint of a wagon train, that the “Wagon Master,” noted by capital letters, represents God.

The place where you see the term, “wagon master,” with small case letters, it represents leadership that is ordained by God in the leading of His Church  in Revival.

I have tried to edit carefully in this matter, so if I have overlooked anything, it is not intentional.

The day has come that everyone has been dreaming of! It is a day of transition, movement and adventure.  The wagons are carefully loaded with supplies and personal belongings.  People have taken great care in packing “their treasures” into crates that are now placed inside the wagons.  The “wagon master” is ready to call, “Wagons, Ho!”  The horses are restless, pawing at the ground, seeming to sense that,

  “It is time.”

People are excited, kids are running around and babies are crying, all seeming to sense the restless energy that has gripped everyone. 

Excitement is high.  We are tired of the “Old Life” and we are forging ahead.  The whip snaps over the backs of the teams. The settlers, moving to a new land, are heading out.

It is the beginning of revival!!

The scouts ride ahead, keeping an eye out for danger and preparing the way for those coming behind.  Right now their role seems surreal, play-acting, because they are scouting in familiar territory. 

It won’t be long though before everything that is familiar will be gone.

After traveling many miles their trained eyes will see far ahead and their job will be so important to the safe passage of all the pilgrims.  They will be giving daily reports to the “wagon master,” who will use the information to chart the course for the trip.

Everyone who is a part of this wagon train had to:

Sign up,

Agree to the rules of travel

And

Pay the passage fare.

They have closed down their old houses and are planning on staking a claim in the new land that they have heard about.  All they will be carrying with them are their valuables; family heirlooms, wedding gifts, baby cradles, special pictures, a few pieces of furniture and some jewelry. The family china also has been packed carefully so that it won’t break. Even though the territory may be rough, they still desire to dine in fashion.

These are things that are dear to their hearts and they just can’t leave them behind.

Then there are the needed items; cookware, blankets, water and food, salt and coffee.  They have carefully packed away inside the wagon, their weapons and plenty of ammunition, in the event of an enemy attack.  They feel that they are ready for anything that they will face. They have placed those that will ride “Shotgun” in strategic places to defend surprise attacks, skilled sharpshooters with watchful eyes.  

This story is about us.

We know we are on a journey to a place that we have never been before but we want to go “there.” 

Even the old pioneers are beginning to realize that they have never seen trails like this.

The place we left behind had lost its appeal to us.  We said,

“There has to be more, As we looked at the distant horizon with wistful eyes.”

Every day that we have traveled has made us more hungry to see the new land.  None of us had any idea what lay there, ahead of us, but we signed up for the trip. How exciting!

“The Children of Israel did it,

our Forefathers did it

And now,

We are doing it.”

We have read their stories and discovered some of their keys.  The records of their victories and failure have been invaluable to us, as we have studied them over and over, trying to make sure that we don’t repeat their mistakes.  We decided that we would not mess up, so we put our guidelines in place and stepped out into the

Unknown Space called Revival,

Without a clue of what lay before us.

We have had many examples that have gone before us, a great cloud of witnesses to the early days of revival, brave pioneers that blazed heroic trails that cost them dearly and for that we are all grateful.  We now enjoy the bounty of their early labor.  I bless the pioneers of the faith who broke new ground and built houses of worship that we now benefit from. 

Americans are known for their pioneer spirit in many arenas.  Many people have forged ahead through terrain that was rugged and difficult for them.  For them it took endurance through some very trying times, but because of their faithfulness, we enjoy the land they discovered, the ground they took and the space they gained.  They had to travel through many trials and dangers to finish their journey.  But when they came over that last rugged mountain pass and saw the valleys and plains, richly sprawling before their eyes, they knew that

It was worth it.

Hebrews 12:1-2

For every victorious traveler, there are also those who traveled a great distance only to fall short of their goal.  Their bodies were found in the spring, after a dreadful winter, in some cases, just short of their goal and the provisions that could have saved their lives. 

If they would have

Pushed a little further,

Not have given up so quick,

Tried to see beyond their immediate need to the promise that lay before them,

Maybe they would have made it. 

But the storms that they faced caused them to despair and simply give up.

All journeys to any place that counts, by people who meant to finish the trip, have a history book of

  “Those who did”

And

“Those who didn’t.”

Moses, with the children of Israel, is a Biblical example of a spiritual passage with deep implications for those who stepped out of the mundane and old life of Egypt into the new frontier of moving to the Promised Land.  How the trip was faced was the difference between life and death for them.

Most failed to understand that

The physical moves they were making

Had spiritual ramifications.

Daily choices, more than anything, lay before them.  They did have physical needs on the journey, but expressed them as “Rights.”  This led to their murmuring and complaining against the “Wagon Master.” 

The whole mental attitude that they approached everything with, cost them greatly at the end. Their bodies, too, lay just short of the prize that lay at the end of the road they were traveling upon. 

The instructions of the “Master” had been ignored one time too many.

They had come so far, but because of something as little as their,

“Attitudes, expressed as Words,”

That “gave expression to the heart trouble they had,”

They died in the wilderness.

I remember watching old westerns that depicted scenes such as I am describing, and as I write, some things just stick out so clear to me. 

The “Wagon Master” knew the way because he had been this way many times before, guiding many pilgrims to safety and the new land.  But invariably, as a trial would come, some

“Know-It-All-Mouth”

Would arise to speak smooth words to the people, thereby creating a split in the group that had started out together.  He would tell them that the “wagon master” didn’t know what he was talking about and would end up convincing the group that they should follow him.  The disaster that would follow in his wake of

“Leadership by Mutiny”

Would always cost the lives of those who were originally entrusted to a trained and wise leader. 

When the wagon train would “split,” with a faction pulling off, it was because they had been convinced that there was

  A better way,

An easier way,

Or a quicker way to get “there,

Or that there was nothing laying ahead of them but a wasteland, a mirage, a dream gone bad.

Unfortunately, for a group of people who decide to travel together anyplace, they all leave with varying and individual opinions, thoughts and reasons for making the journey.  In the excitement of the leaving, everyone is “Together” and just happy to be going.  But, when the rough times come, “The Nature” of everyone begins to show.  This is a time when we are all challenged to:

Adapt,

Submit,

And,

Stay the course.

It is in times like this that we are encouraged to:

“Lighten the load that we left with.”

The enemy, as the “Wagon Master” knows, is using the weight of the excess baggage to catch us burdened down.  So we are instructed to throw stuff away so that we may travel more lightly in order to move safely and quickly through enemy lines. 

This is one of the hardest times that we face because “we like everything that we have brought with us.”  We had planned on keeping it all and using it to help set up house keeping in the new land.  But it can cost us our life, so we do throw a lot of it away.  Many times, by the time we get very far down the road, we have had to dump all of our old life and will arrive with just the clothes on our backs if we are fortunate. Sometimes, even our garments represent our image.  We will be faced with an exchange of clothing that is more suitable for the trip.  All of the frilly, lacy, fancy clothes are not conducive to traveling light.

This represents letting go of the past.

It is bondage.

It is weight.

It is heavy.

It is old.

We have to just let it go, because if we don’t, we may perish and never make it. 

Then also, the pioneers, much of the time, entered a land with little or no water supply. All that stood between them and death was the water that was carried with the wagons.  At times that would be rationed.  If those, in a craving for water, went off looking on their own, were ever found, they would have been decimated by the enemy or perished for lack of food and water.  If they would of just stayed with the “Wagon Master” and the train, they would have eventually got to water and safety.

There was the danger that every member of a pilgrimage would face and it was that of coming upon water that was polluted, many times by the enemy.  It was guaranteed that if anyone drank of that water, they could be assured of intense sickness and probably death.  They were thirsty and would drink the first water they came to only to discover, too late, that they had poisoned themselves. Much of the time, the water was polluted by,

  “The Dead Flesh that was in it.”

Our thirst in Revival can drive us to settle for

“Less-than-pure” water.”

For many, this is costing them dearly, because they quenched their thirst at a polluted well and are now sour on all “water.”  They have drunk from “Marah’s,” bitter water.  They need to go to “Elim,” and drink from good wells and realize that there are places of pure, refreshing water.  

One of the common statements that I have heard from those who have entered into an “Elim” is, “This is such an Oasis, a place of refreshing.”  There is a difference between wells and we must heed the warnings of the “Wagon Master” concerning the wells that we run to in order to quench our thirst.

Well into the journey to the new land of promise, as the travelers had been met with many hardships, dangers had been faced and the cost had been calculated, there were those who said,

“We must turn around and “go back.”

This was typical of the early pioneers in all fields, the natural and spiritual.  It was typical of the Israelites and now marks this revival too. 

A true pioneer will push ahead, regardless of the cost or suffering, because they know that there is nothing to “go back to except the old life.”

For Israel,

It was the “Flesh Pots.”

For us,

It’s the “Flesh Pots.”

Nothing, really, has changed at all.  It is in the difficult times, that what is behind us beckons us to come back.

But, we must remember,

The Spiritual Prize lies ahead of us.

The Flesh and Failure lies behind us.

  For us,

It’s religion,

The world,

The old ways of doing things,

Even the stuff we left behind on the trail pulls at our heart’s strings. 

It is all “flesh pots.”

Then there were those who, in the heat of the battle, panicked and bolted. These are the unfortunate ones, because they have singled themselves out for enemy attack, by the very fact that they are alone. By running, they enter into the enemy’s camp where he has nothing but death awaiting. 

Inside the circle of the wagons, at least there was the safety in the numbers.  Outside, there was no place to run or hide because they had already come too far to turn back to the old life.  Their old life was so far behind that the only place of safety was the camp of friends and leaders.

It is dangerous for us to get disconnected in this revival.

We need to stay put, under the watchful eyes of the “Wagon Master.”  All that He has placed around us is for our safe passage.  We need the camp, the wagons, the scouts, the provisions, those who ride shotgun and the rest of the people who will fight to protect each other in the face of the battle.  

Many of you, just like the early pioneers, have been traveling a long time, supplies are running low and you’re tired. 

Where do you go from here?

You have memories that go back three, four, five years and you still have not seen your promised land.  You are moving one day at a time, hanging onto the promises and keeping your eyes on the horizon.  You know that any day now you will crest the hill and look below and it will all be there, just as He said it would be. 

Your journey has cost you.

Some of your friends that started with you have turned back a long time ago, or maybe just yesterday.  Your heart is sick over it but you can’t go after them, following them into the wilderness, so you just weep.  You saw them ride back, having lost hope or figuring that the cost was too high to pay. 

Some of them left to return to where they came from because they loved the past life, having constantly looked back with fond memories so many times that they just decided that was where they wanted to be.

“After all, I have my family to think of….”

“I was forced to take a journey like this and I vowed that I would never force my kids to do this”

“It used to be fun and now my family doesn’t want to do it anymore….”

The stress of the trip has affected everything around you; family, finances, reputation. 

People think you are a dreamer

But you are moving ahead.  You resolve, every day, in spite of the doubts that arise at times, that you are not going back. 

You will not turn around and face the old land.

You will not even take a glance back with any wistfulness or fond memory.

You have decided.

 

You are a pioneer,   

A brave heart, 

A committed one. 

You are determined to go “there,” 

Wherever “there” is.

 

You are a Moses,

An Abraham,

A Joshua,

A Paul. 

You are a sojourner,

A traveler.

If it gets too still, you get antsy, because you have become accustomed to moving all the time.  You awaken in the morning and know that you will be breaking camp and moving out today. 

You have adapted to change.

The daily adventure of new ground and all that shifts with change, excites you.  For every step that you take, you know

“There is more ahead.”

A holy dissatisfaction for where you are at now has gripped you to move on.  Today you take new ground and tomorrow you will too. 

You are a pioneer.

You have been pierced, persecuted, surrounded and assailed but you have fought a good battle for the day.  You have learned peace in the middle of the trials that you are facing.  You rest assured that the “Wagon Master” does know where He is going.  You are not the first group of pioneers that He has taken on this journey. 

You will make it because He is faithful to the very end.

  God Bless the Faithful Watchman on the Wall of the Church!