I want to get an A +

It all started out so great.

They left with armloads of gold and a hope that their tomorrows would be free of slavery and oppression.  They watched as the Red Sea open up before their very eyes. They felt the wind on their face while they walked on dry ground in between towering walls of water.  A cloud from heaven led them by day and a pillar of fire by night.  Food literally fell from the sky every single morning for them to eat and water gushed out of a rock to quench their thirst.

What should have taken the Israelites eleven days, took them forty years because God wanted to test them.  He longed for them to depend solely on Him and he wanted to prove himself faithful so he didn’t make it easy.   Despite the miraculous, they forgot where they were going.  The difficult path distracted them from the promised destination. They got tired of trusting in a God who was doing things the hard way.  Questions led to discontentment and a longing for what was, instead of what was to come.

It’s tragic to think about, but what started out so great, ended horribly.  Out of the original millions that God brought out of Egypt, Joshua and Caleb were the only ones that passed the test.  Two, out of millions! The rest of their generation died, some of them at Gods hand because of their complaining!  Did you just have a chill go up your spine?  Me too.

I desperately want to pass the test.  I don’t want to miss out on what is waiting for me if I endure.  I want eyes like Joshua and Caleb.  They saw the giants, but they knew their God was bigger.  They saw the walls, but they knew their God was strong enough to make them fall. 

Have you ever wondered why it’s taking so long to get where God promised he'd take you? Are you tired of believing in what you do not see?  Do you wish Gods ways weren’t so mysterious and sometimes really hard?  If you said no, your nose just grew.  All of us get tired and that’s why on this journey to heaven, the mercy of our God is new every single morning!  His Word is available for us to gather each day.  His faithfulness is unmatched, his love is unending, his grace is always enough and if we choose to remember what’s coming, we seriously have nothing to complain about! 

We can do this my friends if we take our eyes off the giants and put them on Jesus.  God promises that if we put one foot in front of the other and keep going, the final destination is going to take our breath away...and that my sisters will be worth the journey!

Written by: Sue Keddy