A few months ago, I got pretty discouraged. I started to wonder if I would ever enter into the rest that God has promised us. I am a person who believes that we don’t need to wait till we die to enter in. Jesus said, “…that where I AM, you may be also.” I want to be where He is.
So, anyway, I was really feeling it a few months ago. The longing for something that seemed still, so far from me. I looked at myself and hung my head. I’ve been walking with God for a long time, at least what seems a long time to a human like me. And still, I hear something disturbing and my thought is to fret. I tell everyone to trust, but me? I fret. And then I think, Oh, I should trust. Trusting God is the only thing that makes sense. But when, oh when, will trust be my FIRST thought??? Kindness, my FIRST inclination?? Love? Peace?
And then, oh WOE is me, I thought of Moses. Moses was chosen from the time he was a baby. He grew up to be the man that God chose to lead His people out of Egypt. He walked with God. HE WALKED WITH GOD!!!!! But he didn’t enter into the promised land. Exodus 33:11 says that “…….the Lord spoke unto Moses face to face, as a man speaks unto his friend.” Can you imagine???!!!
But Moses did not enter in…. He did not enter in because of disobedience. He followed and obeyed and did as the Lord commanded for so many years, and then in one rash moment, when God instructed him to speak to the rock and water would come forth, rather than speak to it, he hit it with his staff. That was it. He disobeyed the Lord one time, and none of the rest mattered.
So what hope do I have? Really? I know that Jesus has saved me and I don’t fear death. I know that I am acceptable and loved in the Lord. But I want to enter into His rest. I want to live a life, right now, right here, in which I trust God for all things, and rest in Him. But if Moses didn’t make it, then how can I?
Woe was me. A few months ago. Woe was me……. So, I did something smart. This was a very important question, so I used my “Phone a friend” option. I called a longtime friend, the kind of friend that you don’t need to say hello to even though you haven’t spoken to them in a long time. You just dive in to the issue at hand.
Friend: Hi there.
Me: Why didn’t Moses enter in???!?!?!?!?
Friend: Didn’t he?
Me: No. He disobeyed God. ONE TIME! And he wasn’t allowed in. What hope do I have of entering God’s rest?
Friend: You’re seeing it wrong.
Me: But that’s what it says.
Friend: Yes, true. But……. We don’t follow Moses into the promised land. We follow Joshua.
DING! DING! DING! YES! That was it!
What did Moses represent? He represented getting approval from God by following the law. There is no gray area. The law must be followed and if we sin, if we disobey, …even one time, then that’s it. We don’t make it. That’s it! There’s no wiggle room for us, or even for Moses.
But we don’t follow Moses into the promised land. We follow Joshua. Joshua’s name was originally “Oshea.” The name Oshea means “to save.” Numbers 13:16 tells us that Moses called Oshea, son of Nun, Jehoshua (Joshua) which adds something to the definition. It means “God saves.” So when we follow Moses, we follow the law, but when we follow Joshua, we follow after the salvation that only God can give. We follow Jesus. The Author and Finisher of our faith.
No matter what we see in ourselves, we need to turn our eyes. Turn away from ourselves and set our eyes on Jesus. I know I’ve written about stuff like this before. Maybe I should go back and read some of it.
