How do you feel about adventure? When you are preparing to do something new or travel to a new destination do you feel excited? Nervous? Fearful? Are you frustrated by everything you must accomplish beforehand? Do you feel a combination of all these things? Our family is excited to try new things and travel to new places. When God calls us to GO, we are ready knowing it will be a great experience. What if you find yourself in a wilderness period that is lasting longer than you thought? What should we do if we are in a waiting period? Let’s look at Deuteronomy as Moses prepared to go to the new land. Deuteronomy 1:1-2:23If you are experiencing hard times at the moment or are in a wilderness period of your life where there is a long delay between the promise of God and the fulfillment of that promise manifesting, remind yourself what you can do while you wait: Trust God! Deuteronomy is one of the longest sermons ever preached. It is the last preached by Moses. In the book of Deuteronomy we read of Moses’ parting instructions to the people. Moses reiterates the law God had given the people, retransmitting God’s ways for a new generation. The Bible is the story of God’s people, God’s blessing and God’s rule. We experience God’s blessing when we are living under God’s rule. At the start of Deuteronomy, we are reminded about God’s blessings to His people in the past, present and future.
Alongside all these blessings, Moses also highlights a series of problems, burdens and disputes (v.12). God said, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain. See, I have given you this land. Go in and take possession of the land’ (vv.6–8). It was only eleven days’ journey, but it had taken them forty years! They had developed a wilderness mentality and allowed themselves to be overcome by fear and discouragement (v.21), grumbling (v.27), loss of heart (v.28) and opposition (v.26 onwards). Now was the time to move out of the wilderness into the new land. Yet Moses did not promise that they would be free of problems. In fact, Moses talked about ‘your enemies’ (v.42). They were going to have many battles ahead and much opposition. The key is to follow the Lord wholeheartedly (v.36b). Never allow opposition to put you off. Moses said, ‘Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them. The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight for you’ (vv.29–30). God is FOR you!
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