Time In The Wilderness

Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. (Joshua 1:6)

We know from our Bible study that after the Israelites crossed the Red Sea in a mighty miracle of God they often turned back toward Egypt in their grumbling. God promised a paradise on Earth if they could just be faithful through a short time in the wilderness. A bit later, when faced with having to earn paradise, they balked and ended up serving another 40 years walking that same wilderness. Finally, after much adventure, Israel is poised to enter the promised land. Ah, ha! we say, there's no way I would be like them!

No way? Did you never lose a job and then try to go back there in thought or deed? Never once yearn back to the good times of high school or college or whenever? Every day in that circumstance back in the day was one of unquenchable good times and bliss? Did the married fellow never once speak of how good the single years were to him? Is a house from your past calling out to you to move back in and things will be just wonderful again? Yes, we get confused about which way progress lies in life.

Every person who comes to believe in Christ will endure a time in the wilderness, probably more than one. To reach a promised land we must endure some tough testing. The promise is hard to see, the reality is tough to bear, and the past begins to take on the shine of forgotten pain. We marvel that the Israelites yearned to go back to slavery and persecution, yet we do the same in our nostalgia from time to time. So, God gives Joshua some encouragement as the leader of Israel stands on the border of the promised land. Be strong and of good courage, and remember the promise of God!

We have that same encouragement today.

Bucky