Just Camping

As I drove home today my car radio display froze, reading "Day 21". It was such a random phrase I began to pray into it. Checking my Hebrew calendar, we just finished the 21st day of back to back feasts, the current one being the Feast of Tabernacles, otherwise called sukkot. The fascinating thing is, as I look into the origin of the word, it refers to the temporary tabernacles or huts made by farmers just to stay in while they harvested. This were also the structures the Israelites would stay in on their way to the promised land. It was used when you were NOT INTENDED TO STAY LONG. This wasn't a permanent structure. They weren't to stay here forever. It was kind of "roughing it" temporarily for the purpose of the harvest. This month, Tishrei, actually comes from the Babylonian word for "beginning". We are finishing a season, harvesting the fruits from the old, and preparing to move into the new and start the farming process over, breaking up the soil. You may feel like you're in a rough place. A place that's uncomfortable. You feel like "God, I can't keep this up! I can't stay in this place forever!". His message is that you are just "camping" in this place of exposure to the spiritual elements and pressures. It won't be forever, but it is going to serve a purpose in bringing in the spiritual harvest. You are about to finish up in this place and start breaking ground for future harvests!