By Gary Hansen
I continue to enjoy studying the life of Moses, one of my heroes from the Old Testament. In a new book entitled “The Chase” by William H. Cook, he shared this insight from God’s word. “Don’t give up on God. One entire generation did, nearly all of those who surrounded Moses! They would not believe that the God of Moses could provide enough power to help them attain their long-range hoped-for goals.”
So what happened to the two million Israelites who left Egypt with Moses? Within a few days, they found themselves at the Red Sea, the sea in front of them and the Egyptian army behind them. Exodus 14:11 described what happened next “Then they turned against Moses and complained ‘Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Weren’t there enough graves for us in Egypt? Why did you make us leave?” Starting at the Red Sea they continued to question God’s appointed leader Moses and that continuing doubt cost them the opportunity to enter the Promised Land. All two million that left Egypt died off over the next forty years in the wilderness. Because of their sin and doubt, God moved on to a younger generation led by Joshua. But first God gave Joshua some important pre-requisites. Never forget, pre-requisites nearly always precede a great promise. God tells us in Joshua 1:8, “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you will meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you shall make your ways prosperous, and then you will have success.”
God expected Joshua to obey His Word, if he did, then God would fulfill the two promises from Joshua 1:8. This important lesson for Joshua also applies to us today. What can we learn from the nation of Israel’s mistakes? God tells us to “meditate on His Word day and night…” When we obey God and make growing with God our focus, then He will make our way prosperous, and then we will have success.
Growing with God is an important question for all of us. Discovering your Life Purpose, career exploration or discovering the next chapter after retirement are all areas Careers With A Purpose can assist you with, contact us at 1-800-539-6030.