Oh, If only once we could be convinced of God’s goodness towards His children and of His desire to reveal Himself to them! We would no longer seek out own selfish desires. We would not be so quickly discouraged from pursuing what He is so long to give us: Romans 8:32 – “He who spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not, with Him, also freely give us all things?” We only need a little courage and perseverance. Actually, we have enough of both in our earthly affairs, but none at all in the only thing that really matters (Luke 10:42).
~Jeanne Guyon
So Moses continued to speak these words to all Israel. And he said to them, “I am 120 years old today. I am no longer able to go out and come in. The LORD has said to me, ‘You shall not go over this Jordan.’ The LORD your God Himself will go over before you. He will destroy these nations before you, so that you shall dispossess them, and Joshua will go over at your head, as the LORD has spoken. And the LORD will do to them as He did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when He destroyed them. And the LORD will give them over to you, and you shall do to them according to the whole commandment that I have commanded you. Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God Who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the LORD has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it. It is the LORD Who goes before you. He will be with you; He will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”
~ Moses, a man of The Presence, in Deuteronomy 31
Oh beloved, it is true.
Throughout our lives, we find people to look up to. And no, this is not wrong. It is wonderful for us to have examples in our lives. It is wonderful for us to have people in our lives, that show us how to live better, love better, and be better.
The problem, though, is that whoever we look up to, it will never be enough.
Good people fail. Also, there are plenty of bad people, who try to look good, but take us through the the wringer. They look good on the outside, but they aren’t. This problem is relatively easy to comprehend, because many of us guys from the Colony were like this. We really tried to present like everything was OK, when truly we were coming apart on the inside. And in our coming apart, we pulled people down and wrung them dry as well.
Joshua, The Captain of The Hosts of Israel, really did have someone to look up to. He had served with and under Moses for decades. He watched this powerfully humble man lead a stubborn and stiffnecked people through the wilderness. And Moses did not just gain experience through His second forty years in the wilderness, he had the best of education from the finest schools of Egypt – then integrated into his soul through an earlier forty years of desert meditation in the rolling hills of Midian.
Joshua was well trained by Moses. He was an able leader who had observed and served in some very difficult circumstances. But now, he was coming up on a situation that not even his mentor could have handled alone. But, both of these men had a secret…
Moses had learned it first. First, at the burning bush, where the ground was so holy that the very fabric of space within the plant was alight with the Presence of G_d. Later, in a forty day gauntlet of experiencing the very near Presence of G_d, which he only survived by YHWH putting Moses into the cleft of a rock, and placing His hand over him, whilst All His Goodness passed by. And finally, in an ongoing, face-to-Face conversation with The L_RD of Hosts, in the tent of meeting. The Presence of G_d is everything. It assures victory, and healing and the courage needed to do what we need to do.
Joshua was a disciple of Moses, and a close one at that. And so, we find in Scripture that Joshua was an attendant in the meeting tent where Moses and YHWH spoke to each other. Most of his training in how to actually do things was learned in observing the conversations between The Very Maker of The Universe, and Moses, the man of powerful humility – in the Presence.
Can we see it?
But, when they went out of the tent, Joshua watched how Moses dealt directly with the people. And he had probably come to a place where he had thought that Moses was a vital aspect of how G_d was dealing with His chosen people. Oh, to be sure, Moses was important. But, Moses was not the key factor in the success of Israel as it came up on her entrance into the promised land.
Time had caught up with Moses. His first forty years in Egypt, his second forty years in Midian, and his final forty years in the wilderness had brought his physical frame to an end. However, he did have one final and truly vital piece of learning to give to Joshua: It was not Moses strength, it was G_d’s all the time. And now, Joshua, was going to receive the message Moses had just received directly from Him.
G_d fights our battles. He is with us. He goes before us. He never leaves us. In Him, we always win. And, Joshua took this to heart. His valor and courage is legend, even to today in military writings. This guy could not lose, as long as he dwelt in the place where G_d was.
So, are you feeling your courage (the fullness of your heart) waning? Maybe it is because you honestly do not know the truth that Moses learned over 80 years, and has passed onto the next leader of the team. You are never alone. G_d is always with you. You cannot lose.
Tonight is your night, beloved. Time to understand that He is with you, and He has some victory to bring about in your (and this fool of a writer’s) life.
Never, never, never give up.
~ Sir Winston Churchill
