Author’s note: For much of my life I look back and ultimately found myself desperately far from the will of God. Not understanding the will of God makes for an impotent, if not destructive, prayer life and one likely a spring pad for idolatrous, self-righteous behavior.
Delivered many times from difficulties and personal hubris and finally taken down by the futility of my own self-will, I sought my Savior and appealed to the Father through His Son, appealing to God directly through Christ instead of the many surrogates I was drawn to in my life.
Through a faithful dedication to better understand the Lord’s guidances, I made the decision to seek His will by reading the Scriptures daily and frequently. Especially in this day and age, when we run the gauntlet of every worldly distraction with its deadly intent for us to complacently succumb to temptation, each of us needs to seek, holiness and righteousness through God’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Numbers 14:1-10
SO ALL THE CONGREGATION lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. 2 And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! 3 Why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” 4 So they said to one another, “Let us select a leader and return to Egypt.”
5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.
6 But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; 7 and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: “The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. 8 If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, ‘a land which flows with milk and honey.’ 9 Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them.”
10 And all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Now the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle of meeting before all the children of Israel...
Joshua and Caleb report the Good News, and the congregation wanted to stone them to death
Who is on the narrow path that leads to life and who is one the wide path that leads to destruction?
When you are convinced of the Truth, it becomes easier to speak your mind and speak it with authority, even in the face of detractors.
There’s plenty of comfort zones we can fall back on in effort to avoid the change, it’s an indicator why people are not omniscient and only God is. One famous line the movie “A Few Good Men” was Jack Nicholson’s character barking, “You can’t handle the truth!”
Context of the movie aside, it is true, our feeble minds cannot handle the truth of what will occur in the future. It would turn your life upside down, whether the future boded well or for worse.
Yet coming to the saving Grace of God assures one of a glorious afterlife, but one cannot tell what to expect around the next turn of your life except the reality that all things work for good for all those who love God.
“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” – ROMANS 8:28
You cannot know what lingers in the shadow of the valley of death, but you must be courageous. God calls you to be courageous in seeking the Truth and acting upon what you discover.
Deliverance could be, like the lost generation in the desert, right in front of us, but many would rather fight tooth and nail not to give up a familiar piece of territory. But what about Joshua and Caleb?
Faith in God becomes critical. It requires action on your part. Learning about who God is, what His character is like will lead to understanding, self-awareness, purpose and mission.
Two analogies when action decisive action is required
PERILOUS COMBAT
Omaha Beach of Normandy on D-Day, as exemplified cinematically by the movie Saving Private Ryan. The truth is, it is not better to stay put, but rather risk the fight to getting off the beach, both to survive and to achieve the mission objective. It’s not better to dig in and stay on the beach in the small corner although every nerve in your body screaming fear and does not want to move out despite being in the middle of a hail of death and destruction. One can wait for death staying on one spot or one can take action in effort to fulfill the mission.
In the context a pitched battle, it’s easy to see the consequences of decisions. You must have faith in what you know is right, confidence in the true way to drive you despite the odds, despite the fear.
A SIMPLE GAME
As simple internet game called: “The World’s Hardest Game.” For a young novice testing his savvy on the internet, it could be something that garners the label of “Hardest.”
What I discovered in my observation of the play of this game is the objective is to get from the green area of the left side to a “safe” free area on the right side. In the process you have to avoid being struck by the blue circles or balls.
Sometimes you can find little spaces to hide in that allows you to be safe from being hit by the moving balls, but they will not seek you like a predator and knock you out.
However, if you sit in that one spot, you never get to your objective. This gets more difficult with each succeeding game. The point is you can move towards the objective or just languish away in a safe spot never to fulfill the objective.
Most people you know will be satisfied with sitting in their comfortable hole, without the perspective of the eternal consequences to hanging onto this world as though it is an end unto itself.
Joshua and Caleb trusted God
Joshua and Caleb were filled with spiritual strength who understood their relationship with God who they knew was trustworthy. God had proven His trustworthiness and power to provide for the Israelites in miraculous ways and would deliver the Promised Land to them in exchange for their faithful obedience, despite all the fortified cities and its giants for the enemy. The faithful two understood their inheritance and they knew it was “exceedingly good land.”
The leaders of the other tribes who came back and gave dire reports only succeeded in dowsing the spirits of their fellow tribesmen, to the point of being consumed with fear-driven and hate-filled rage. They did not trust God or give the glory to God and perpetuated their grip on unfaithfulness to the point of violent disobedience. In short, they saw the same inheritance and did not value God’s promises.
What about you?
In many ways, our trek through life is like the Israelites journey through the wilderness. God promises us the inheritance of His kingdom and a reconciled relationship with Him through His Son. This is far better than even “exceedingly good land.”
“But we are all like an unclean thing,
And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags;
We all fade as a leaf,
And our iniquities, like the wind,
Have taken us away.”
– Isaiah 64:6
Jesus Christ died for the sins of the world. He died for your sins and my sins that our souls may be saved from eternal punishment in hell. Will you accept this divine gift and begin to live in gratefulness for His sacrificial love for you?
If you cannot understand how on your own self-will why you cannot achieve reconciliation with God who is holy, good, and just, it would behoove you to understand holy Scripture and the benchmarks it proclaims in the moral Law. We are only condemned by the Law, it convicts us of our sinfulness. That is why the Bible proclaims God’s merciful solution:
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us,
in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:8
The Promised Land, God’s kingdom of heaven, stands before you with God’s promises to deliver if you simply repent and accept His Son Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
John 14:6
Where do you find yourself?
CKY
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