Getting to the Promise Land
I’m sure you know the feeling of counting down until a certain event. When I was really little we used to count, “How many more sleeps until Disneyland?” We still use it with our kids. The excitement builds and finally the day comes when we get to pack up the car and go.
Imagine how the Israelites felt after forty years of wandering in the desert. They KNEW God had promised them a land full of milk and honey. In the meantime they were eating manna and walking around and around and around. I’m sure they were very excited once they learned that they were near the point of crossing over the Jordan and into the land of milk and honey.
Do you know why they took forty years? And no it wasn't because men were leading and wouldn’t stop to ask for directions.
They lived in fear and didn’t trust God. God told Moses to send spies into the Promised Land to bring back a report. When the spies came back, they had evidence of land that was full of great abundance, but also giant scary people. Ten of the spies focused on the negative and scared the heck out of the Israelites. Two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, focused on the positive and the fact that God had promised this land to them. He was in charge and if they trusted Him, they would be O.K.
Because of the lack of faith of some people, the whole group got to wander in the desert until the generation of doubters perished. Except Joshua and Caleb, they got to still go into the Promised Land..... eventually.
So time flies with boring food and lots of whining. Moses dies without going into the Promised Land because even he messed up and had consequences for not obeying God.
And finally, the book of Joshua. I’m so excited to finally be at this point of the Bible. They finally get to the Promised Land!! As I read the first few chapters, I realized there are great lessons here.
First of all, God keeps saying, “Be strong and courageous.” I counted it three times in one paragraph. This means that although they are going into the Promised Land, all was not going to be easy. We often think that once we get somewhere, once we finally reach a goal, life will get easier. If we just knew what God wanted us to do, we could move forward and all would go smoothly. Once I’m married, once I’m a mom, once I reach my goal weight..... but there will always be more work to do.
The Israelites prepare to cross the Jordan and I’m wondering, as they are packing up to go, are they excited? Is it like our family the day we finally get to pack the car and go to Disneyland? Have they been counting down “how many sleeps until we go?”
Then they get asked to do something that sounds very familiar. They have to cross the Jordan River. I’m thinking it’s a river and they’ll get their feet wet and it will all be good. But that’s not how it went.
“Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho.” Joshua 3:15-16
Instead of dealing with the swollen river, they ended up walking across on dry ground.
It struck me that the water stopped a great distance away. In preparation for the Israelites touching their feet into the river, God stopped the water a great distance away.
WHAT IS GOD PREPARING IN MY LIFE A GREAT DISTANCE AWAY THAT I’M NOT AWARE OF?
What was it like for this group of people, who had only heard stories about the parting of the Red Sea, to walk straight towards a flooding river with all of their belongings on their backs? My instinct would be to turn to the left or to the right and find a bridge! But they had their orders, “Follow the ark.”
I want turn-by-turn directions. I want to put an address into my phone and have a blue line appear that shows me exactly where I’m going. Where does God want me to be? Where am I supposed to be heading? Some days I think I know the answer to that and other days it’s all so overwhelming I think God must have other plans for me.
So, each day, I pick up my stuff and keep moving forward. Now I’m excited to know that God is preparing the way. He’s ahead of me putting things in place that I don’t even see.
My job is to take each step, one and at time, in the direction I know is within His will. He only asks us to go one step at a time because He is working ahead of us making the path dry where we will need to cross once we get there. It’s a team effort and I need to stop worrying about what He is doing and focus on what He has put in front of me for today.
And let's not stress about making wrong turns. The Israelites made A TON of mistakes along the way, but God always directed them back to where He wanted them to be. Just keep on looking for God's will and living to please Him.
I don’t know where my public speaking is going. I don’t know what topics I’m supposed to be covering or to which groups I’m supposed to be speaking. What I do know is that for today, I’m to be the best at what I have in front of me: my blog, my kids, my friends, my goals.
What about you? Do you worry too much about what is down the road? What do you have in front of you right now that needs your attention?
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