Going, Not Knowing

By Gobel Brockman


     Most of you know the story: God had delivered the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage. Their journey to the Promised Land turned into a 40-year trip due to their disobedience. Just as they were about to enter the Promised Land, Moses himself disobeyed, and as a result he was not allowed to enter the land. He was taken up to the top of the mountain to see the land, and there he died. In Joshua 1:1-5 we read this:

    "Now after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, the assistant of Moses: “Moses My servant is dead, so now get up and cross over the Jordan—you and all this people—to the land that I am giving to the children of Israel. I have given you every place that the sole of your foot shall tread, as I said to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon, as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Mediterranean Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory. No man will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, I will be with you. I will not abandon you. I will not leave you." 

     Which leads me to this point: There are times in life when that which we are familiar with is no more. God told Joshua, "Moses my servant is dead." For 40 years, Israel had followed Moses. Moses heard from God and then shared with them all of God's directions. There was no doubt who God had placed in charge, and the people followed him. Now he was gone. What would they do? We sometimes face similar situations. We get used to things. We know where God is leading us and where we belong. Then God takes our "Moses" away from us, and we're unsure of our next step. At that moment we face a choice: do we follow the new "Joshua" or do we go on an excursion trying to find where "Moses" went? What I mean is this: I think the reason some Christians never move into the fullness of what God HAS for them is they spend too much time looking for what God HAD for them. Rather than follow Joshua, we want to go to the mountain top and find the body of Moses so we can try to resurrect "what used to be." The problem with that is simple: "Moses my servant is dead" and the implication is, "and he's not coming back." 

     There are times when things happen in our lives that permanently alter our futures. We pray that someone we love will be healed, and instead we have to attend their funeral. We struggle to keep our finances in order, and then we have to deal with a sudden and intense challenge. Life has those "major moments" when things will never be the same again. The challenges in our Christian journey, however, don't always have to be those type of "drastic" challenges; sometimes it's the little things as well. The church starts singing new songs. The Pastor's sermons begin to get more challenging. We find ourselves saying, "We're not doing things like we used to do them." My point is that if you like things to always stay the same, your Christian faith will be quite challenging indeed. People come into and out of our lives. There will be times when people we respect will fail us. Things change - even in church. God decides to move in a different direction. Your "Moses" is going to die, and then you're going to face the choice of following the new "Joshua" God gives you, or living in the past of what you used to have. Allow me to be blunt - that's no way to live. The Bible says in Hebrews 11:8: "By faith Abraham went, not knowing where he was going." We must understand that in the life of faith in Jesus Christ, that will be our call as well. Sometimes it's scary, but it's always exciting. And it's also worth it. 

     Moses trusted God. When faith and obedience called for change, the children of Israel trusted Joshua. If God has taken your Moses, just follow the Joshua He'll provide and keep going.