Promise Land or Battlefield?

Trivia Question for you:

Where in the Bible is "The Promised Land" mentioned?

Don't Cheat!  No using your concordance or even Biblegateway.com

If you had looked it up, you would find the same thing I did, "The Promised Land" is not mentioned in the Bible.  Instead it is referred to as the land GOD promised.

I don't know about you, but for me this is HUGE.  Essentially, it is talking about the same place...the land GOD had promised to the Children of Israel.   The land HE set aside for them after leaving Egypt and wondering in the wilderness all those years.  It is the land the 12 spies said was flowing with milk and honey.  The land Moses and those who chose not to believe GOD were turned away from and never allowed to enter.  The land Joshua led the Children of Israel to conquer.  The land King David would one day rule.  The land in which a little town called Bethlehem would become HOLY as our LORD JESUS was born there.  The land GOD promised.

So why is it HUGE for me that it is not called "the Promised Land" in the Bible?

Because of that little tiny word in front..."The"  "The Promised Land" takes on so much meaning.  It is qualifying to the point of a one and only.  "The Promised Land" sounds like perfection...almost like Heaven here on earth.  And with that, I expect it to be...perfect...holy...without strife, or stress, or tears.
A place of peace.

I have often searched for my own "Promised Land."  My own Holy ground...place of peace.  I didn't always look for real-estate. Although, I have looked for it there too.  Mostly, it is that state of being where GOD has made it perfect for me.  My Promised Land has had many forms:

Being a missionary
Being a Seminary student
Being a writer/consultant for LifeWay
Being a wife
Being a mother
Being a military wife
Being...Being...Being

None of these things have lived up to my expectations of "The Promised Land."  Each has come with it's own set of trials, and battles.

Then, I look at what GOD calls the land...."the land I have promised."  Instead of it being the end-all, and the ALL.  Instead of it being perfect, it becomes what it truly is....the place GOD promised now.

The fact that GOD promised it is beyond significant!  It means it is the place where HE wants me.  The place HE has prepared for me.  But it does not mean it is a place of peace.  My "land HE has promised" will be just like it was for the Children of Israel....a land that needs to be conquered, a land where I will have battles at times and peace at times.  A land that is not Holy but Righteous.  Holy says it is perfect.  Righteous says it is set apart by GOD.  The word Righteous itself needs an opposite to mean anything.  It needs to defeat something...to overcome something.  Righteousness demands victory.

There is not a Promised Land...until Heaven itself.....there is a place GOD has promised to each of us.  It is beautiful...it is dangerous...it is filled with all that you need because it is filled with and through HIM.  Go in boldly!  Go in in full assurance that GOD has gone before you!  Go in and live in righteous victory.  Go into this land...
The land GOD promised!