"HAVE I NOT COMMANDED YOU? BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS!"
This was God's command to Joshua when he was about to lead the people into the Promised Land. Sound familiar? If it doesn't, you can find it said several times in Joshua 1. This was God's command, but what happened before this to make Him say it to Joshua like this?
Let's backtrack.
Moses had led the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt and they camped at the edge of the Jordan River, about to cross over into the Promised Land of Canaan, a land overflowing with milk and honey. (I'm going to paraphrase from Numbers 13:1-14:45). God told the Israelites to send out twelve spies to scout out the land they were about to conquer and so they did as God told them and sent out the spies.
The spies were gone for forty days, traveling all over the land and seeing everything they could in order to report back to Moses and Israel what they saw. When they returned, they told the people that the land indeed was flowing with milk and honey. "However," they said, "the cities are very well fortified and the people that live there are so tall and strong that they are like giants and we are like grasshoppers."
At this point, Caleb and Joshua, two of the spies who went out into Canaan, said to the people, "We should go and take possession of the land! We can do this!"
The other ten spies convinced the people otherwise and made them so fearful that the people were ready to stone Moses, Aaron, Caleb, and Joshua to death for bringing them out of Egypt to face giants.
God became so angry at Israel when it reacted this way that He told Moses He was going to kill everyone because of their cowardice and lack of faith. Keep in mind that these were the same people who only a few months earlier had seen the Red Sea parted, had crossed it as if on dry land, and then watched as Pharaoh's armies were swept away when they tried to follow. They had seen many miracles in both Egypt and in the desert and then they didn't have enough faith that God could help them overcome a few giants and some walled cities?
Moses pleaded on behalf of Israel and God relented because of His love for Moses, but still He would not let that entire generation of Israel enter the Promised Land. Instead, as a people, they were to live in the desert. Every man that had left Egypt and had seen the miracles performed there died in the desert and it was their children that went on to take the Promised Land. God let Israel wander for forty years in the desert, one year for every day the spies had scouted out the land.
The end of that forty years brings us back to Joshua. He was chosen by God as Moses' successor and again Israel was camped at the banks of the Jordan. Is it any wonder that God told him, "Be strong and courageous!"
What does any of this have to do with us today?
Each of us has been in slavery to sin. Sin is our spiritual Egypt. At some point in our lives, God has used a Moses to call us out of our slavery. If you don't think you've ever heard that call on your life, as you read this, this is your call. The call rings out, sure and true, "Leave your bondage, abandon your shackles, cast off the yoke of slavery! There is something better for you! You are called according to a purpose! There is a Promised Land for you and it is overflowing with every good gift!"
If we follow that call, we are going to see God move in our lives. He is going to part Red Seas for us. He is going to feed us in the desert. He is going to give us water when we are thirsty. And then, at some point, we are going to come to the edge of our promised land.
By saying "promised land," am I talking about heaven? Heaven is our ultimate promised land, but there is a promised land for us on earth as well.
Do you know what your promised land is?
You can feel when you're in slavery to something, something that goes even beyond sin the shackles of sin and becomes purposelessness. You can tell when you're not living in your promised land, even if you don't know exactly what it is yet. You know that there is a purpose for your life, something that rises up within you, a hope for something more that you just can't let go no matter what situation you are in. There is a deep passion beating in the breast of every man, woman, and child that longs to burst forth and shout to the world, "This is why I am ALIVE! This is what I was created for!"
Every step we take away from our promised land kills us a little more. Our hearts can feel the calling of God's purpose on our lives, even if our minds don't always recognize it. We become pulled in multiple directions. Our hearts and faith tell us to go toward the promised land, but our minds look at the slavery in which we are bound and wonder how we are ever going to get free.
I promise you, the longer you stay in Egypt, the more miserable you are going to become.
What is your promised land? It could be anything to which God has called you. It could be ministry. It could be business. It could be marriage. It could be a family. It could be singleness. It could be healing. It could be financial blessings. It could be influence. It could be missions. It could be spiritual gifts. It could be almost anything. I believe my promised land has to do with the media.
So here you are, standing at the bank of your Jordan River. When God says it's time (and you need to make sure He says it is time and not to go on your own), what are you going to do? Are you going to enter your promised land? Or are you going to wander around in the desert for forty years of fear?
If you decide to follow God into your promised land, get dressed for battle and go out with worship. Your promised land isn't empty and it doesn't come without a price. It belongs to your enemy the devil. There will be cities to capture, strongholds to demolish, and there will be giants to conquer.
What, you didn't think there'd be giants?
"HAVE I NOT COMMANDED YOU? BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS!"
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