Joshua 21:44 And the Lord gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers. Not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the Lord had given all their enemies into their hands.

The Israelites’ journey was intricately planned out by God.  The time they spent in the Wilderness helped them learn to trust God and know that He would provide.  They needed to learn to follow Him and obey.  He knew without that time of growth they would never make it in the Promised Land because there would be Giants to fight and battles to win, it wasn’t going to be easy, they needed blind faith!  Let’s face it; can you imagine if He had brought them out of Egypt and taken them straight to Jericho and told them to march around it and the walls were going to fall and they would have victory?  They would never have believed it and they would have spent the entire time grumbling instead of doing.  They were so used to being in bondage they may have even been willing to offer themselves as slaves to this new people.  God knew the path they needed to take in order for them to reach that glorious point of rest in The Land He had Promised!

Where are you on your journey?  Are you still in the Wilderness, learning to follow, trust, and obey Him?  Don’t be grumbling and complaining at every turn, you will get through that valley faster if you just ask Him what it is you need to learn and then open your heart, mind, and soul to learn all that He is trying to teach you.  Are you maybe in the Promised Land, finally?  Yay, you got there all excited knowing it is going to be great ~ wait ~ what?  What do you mean there are battles to be fought?  You can see the potential and yet it almost seems a bit out of reach, and it has just been one crazy battle after another!  Maybe you are at that point where it’s like deep cleaning your house, you are at that ‘worse before better’ stage!  What a mess it all is and there doesn’t seem to be anything about this place in your life that is better than it was in your ‘Egypt’, in fact, it could be worse!  Did you make the right decision?  Are you where you are supposed to be?  Those are questions you have begun asking yourself almost every day.  Yes, you are in the right place and God is about to bring you to that place where you have “rest on every side” and you will be able to fully serve Him in this Promised Land He has brought you to!  You must remain faithful.  You must trust Him and certainly don’t go back to your “Egypt”.  

God is always moving you forward.  You may be in a valley or fighting overwhelming battles, but He will bring you to that place He has planned.  Jeremiah 29:11-13, “For I know the plans I have for you”, declares the Lord, “plans for good and not for evil, plans to give you a future and a hope.  Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”  Give Him your wounded heart!  Hold His hand and allow Him to guide you through this to the other side!  He loves you beyond what words can describe!  Hold on to your hope in Him and the promises He has given you!  Trust Him that truly His best is yet to come!

Quote: “Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”  Will Rogers