Several years ago, I heard a message by Jeff Manion called “The Land Between.” It hit me at just the right time. Since then, I’ve revisited the idea often—especially during hard seasons of leadership, change, or uncertainty.
Let me explain the concept through a childhood memory.
When I was in 5th grade, my parents took our family on a road trip from Council Bluffs, Iowa to Anaheim, California. Sounds like a dream vacation—but the trip itself? Not quite so dreamy.
Just a few hours into the trip our 12 passenger van broke down in Kearney, Nebraska. Our replacement vehicle was an eight passenger station wagon. My specific seat was the rear facing back seat. Then we encountered more car trouble as the station wagon’s engine was overheated by the climb up and through the Colorado mountains. When we stopped at a dessert campground for the night we experienced tent camping in triple-digit heat.
In those moments, we weren’t where we started—but we weren’t where we were going either. We were stuck. Tired. Frustrated. And more than a little uncertain about what was next.
That’s the Land Between.
It’s the space between the comfort of what was and the relief of what’s next. For the Israelites, the Land Between was literal: a desert between Egypt and the Promised Land. For us, it’s more often emotional, spiritual, or financial.
I shared this concept at our last board meeting at Cookson Hills. We’re doing the hard work of planning a ten-year future, while dealing with the limitations of our present. We wish we had more income. We wish things were easier. We long to arrive—but we’re not there yet. We are living in a version of the Land Between.
So, the question is: how will we respond in the Land Between?
In Exodus 15–17, Israel complained. About water. About food. About everything. And still—God provided. Again and again, He met their needs not to punish them, but to grow them. To form a people who would trust Him.
But as Jeff Manion cautions us in his book “the desert where faith can thrive is the same place it can dry up and die.” The Land Between is dangerous ground—but also fertile ground.
James 1:2–3 says it this way: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.”
Here are some questions for you and your team to consider:
Where are you in the Land Between?
- Are you feeling the stretch of limited resources?
- Wrestling with the weight of long-range decisions?
- Sitting in a season of uncertainty and waiting?
What is God forming in us during this stretch of the journey?
- Is He growing your dependence?
- Deepening your trust?
- Stripping away self-sufficiency so you can lead from a place of faith?
Are we making space for complaint—or for trust?
- Have we caught ourselves grumbling—about timing, about pressure, about not having enough?
- Or are we allowing trust to take up residence in our hearts?
One of the most powerful things we can do as leaders is choose to trust God—even when resources are tight, clarity is foggy, and the road seems long.
Because just like on that road to California, breakdowns and delays are not the end of the story. God is with us. He is our provider. He is still leading.
Lean into that truth as we lead forward—together.
Morning Psalms 365 