Don’t think that wandering in the desert for 40 years was something only
done in the past. When the Israelites were too afraid to go into the
Promised Land, God sent them on a journey for 40 years to wander in the
desert. The Israelites had been afraid because they believed that the
tribes already inhabiting their land were too strong for them. They were
afraid that they would be unable to defeat them. They chose not to
believe in the promise that God had given them, that He would be with them
and protect them. They did not understand what the phrase “If God is for
us, who can be against us?” meant. So God allowed them to wander in the
desert for 40 years.
God made them wander in the desert for 40 years, fighting any tribe or
city that stood in their way, and defeating them. Why did God do this?
He did this as a lesson to the Israelites, to prove fully to them that He
is the Lord and that whatever He promises, He will do. He did this to
show them that nothing is impossible with God, and to have them bear
witness to His awesome glory. At the end of the 40 years, they were ready
to reclaim their land.
Now the fact is, God sends us on “40 year” journeys even now. It’s easy
to read that same story and think in your mind, “Oh, well I would never
have done that. I would’ve have trusted in God and took the Promised Land
from the start. What were they thinking?” But we must keep in mind that
every story in the Bible is there for a reason. They are reflections of
humanity, things that still remain part of humanity even though time
passes. Even now, we humans fall for the very same traps that the people
in the Bible fell for. So yes, we are guilty of the same thing the
Israelites did even now.
We all have moments when we let fear keep us from trusting God. Sometimes
God may tell us to do something, and it might sound ridiculous in our
worldly and logical minds, and so we over-think and rationalize our way
out of it, refusing to trust that if God gives a command, then you’d
better believe He’ll provide the means to carry it out and the support you
need for it. We’ll let the fear of what might possibly happen if we fail
blind us from the reality of the fact that we will actually NOT fail,
because if God is for us, who can be against us? Sometimes God may bless
us with a promise, a promise of a wonderful gift or a glorious plan or
something else, and it will just seem too impossible to accept, or maybe
the obstacles of life that stand in the way of our obtaining the promise
just seem far too daunting. And so we let fear prevent us from receiving
what God said is rightfully ours. We may even become content with what we
already have and come to believe in the idea that life is what we see in
front of us, that impossible things do not really happen. Ultimately we
will choose to disregard what is written in Deuteronomy 28, that we shall
be blessed when we come in and when we go out, blessed in the city and the
country, blessings shall come upon us and overtake us if we choose to obey
the voice of the Lord.
So for those who walk with the Lord, if they let these fears prevent them
from being all that they are called to be, the Lord will train His
children. He will put them through “40 year” journeys, journeys that
train them and make them stronger, journeys that have them bear witness to
God’s glory, so that they know and understand that God will never leave
them or forsake them, so they know that when God tells them He will do
something He will surely do it, so they know that when God gives them a
command He is behind them 150%. God is the same yesterday and today and
forever. So fear not, for He is with you.
