Prepare the Provisions
11: Embracing the "Weird Space" Between Promise and Possession
Have you ever felt like you were stuck in an awkward middle ground? You aren’t where you used to be, but you haven’t quite arrived at where you’re going. At Mercy City Church, as we celebrate 11 years and one week of ministry, Pastor Matt recently shared a powerful message about this exact season.
He calls it the "Size 11" space. Just like a child whose feet are too big for a size 10 but not yet a size 12, life can feel clumsy and weird when you are in transition. You might feel like you should be moving faster, but your "heel keeps coming out of your shoe".
Understanding the Number 11
In biblical themes, the number 11 often represents disorder, chaos, and judgment. While most of us try to avoid chaos at all costs, Pastor Matt challenged us to see it differently: Disorder is not always dysfunction. In fact, disorder can be an invitation from God to move toward a "higher function or flourishing".
Sometimes, God allows our natural rhythms to be disrupted so that we are forced to step supernaturally into a season of promise.
The Shift: From Manna to Provisions
Looking at Joshua Chapter 1, we see a generation that had wandered the wilderness for 40 years, living off "manna"—miraculous food they didn't have to work for. But to enter the Promised Land, the command changed. Joshua told the people to "prepare your own provisions".
What was once a miracle (manna) was becoming their new ordinary, and God was calling them to a new level of maturity.
To possess the promise, they had to prepare five specific "provisions" in their own hearts:
1. Perspective: You must change your point of view. Your circumstances won't change until you change in the midst of them.
2. Priorities: You have to decide if what God wants for you is more important than what you want for yourself.
3. Preferences: You must let what you want most (the promise) trump what you want now (comfort).
4. Personality: You cannot let your own pride—or the difficult personalities of others—lock you out of the rooms God has called you to enter.
5. Pain: You have to embrace the "no pain, no gain" reality of growth. As Pastor Matt put it, "A promised land is not a handout".
Moving Forward
Whether you grew up with nothing or have faced deep dysfunction in your past, the "disorder" of your current season doesn't have to define your story. It is time to stop wandering around the promise and start walking in it.
Don't settle for your past. Prepare your provisions and get ready to run.
Have you ever felt like you were stuck in an awkward middle ground? You aren’t where you used to be, but you haven’t quite arrived at where you’re going. At Mercy City Church, as we celebrate 11 years and one week of ministry, Pastor Matt recently shared a powerful message about this exact season.
He calls it the "Size 11" space. Just like a child whose feet are too big for a size 10 but not yet a size 12, life can feel clumsy and weird when you are in transition. You might feel like you should be moving faster, but your "heel keeps coming out of your shoe".
Understanding the Number 11
In biblical themes, the number 11 often represents disorder, chaos, and judgment. While most of us try to avoid chaos at all costs, Pastor Matt challenged us to see it differently: Disorder is not always dysfunction. In fact, disorder can be an invitation from God to move toward a "higher function or flourishing".
Sometimes, God allows our natural rhythms to be disrupted so that we are forced to step supernaturally into a season of promise.
The Shift: From Manna to Provisions
Looking at Joshua Chapter 1, we see a generation that had wandered the wilderness for 40 years, living off "manna"—miraculous food they didn't have to work for. But to enter the Promised Land, the command changed. Joshua told the people to "prepare your own provisions".
What was once a miracle (manna) was becoming their new ordinary, and God was calling them to a new level of maturity.
To possess the promise, they had to prepare five specific "provisions" in their own hearts:
1. Perspective: You must change your point of view. Your circumstances won't change until you change in the midst of them.
2. Priorities: You have to decide if what God wants for you is more important than what you want for yourself.
3. Preferences: You must let what you want most (the promise) trump what you want now (comfort).
4. Personality: You cannot let your own pride—or the difficult personalities of others—lock you out of the rooms God has called you to enter.
5. Pain: You have to embrace the "no pain, no gain" reality of growth. As Pastor Matt put it, "A promised land is not a handout".
Moving Forward
Whether you grew up with nothing or have faced deep dysfunction in your past, the "disorder" of your current season doesn't have to define your story. It is time to stop wandering around the promise and start walking in it.
Don't settle for your past. Prepare your provisions and get ready to run.
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