It is a bit of a distraction trail I go down at times when I hear someone sharing their excitement about a new ministry or venture on which they are embarking. They have a vision and plans and I am also excited for them. But…my distraction thinking is about myself (surprise, surprise).
It crosses my thoughts that as I am in my late 70’s, I should be wrapping up projects and finishing things – and ignore those little pangs of excitement I get about jumping into something new. Because, well, who knows if I will be able to finish it?
So, thankfully, here comes Henry Blackaby in his faithful devotional book to correct my trajectory. His subject was about the decisions and disobedience of others not being able to cancel God’s will for you. I am even more hard on myself – I think about the decisions and disobedience of my past actions, many years ago and some not so long ago. It feels like it is too late to do anything about correcting the outcomes of those.
So Blackaby reminds me of Joshua and Caleb. Yes, they trusted God and yet they were forced to wander in a wilderness for forty years because of the fear and disbelief of others – those darn Israelites.
He poses a tough question – “Have you ever felt that someone was thwarting God’s will for you?” Things like keeping you from getting a job or earning a promotion. I add things like an unwanted divorce, surprise financial burdens, and add in my own ill-thought out decisions that did not turn out well. But he adds an even better question – “Do you believe that mere man can stop God from accomplishing His purposes in your life?”
Blackaby points out that God did everything He intended to do in the lives of Joshua and Caleb – it was not their primary assignment to enter the Promised Land but rather it was to serve as godly leaders for the Israelites. I wonder if they knew that? What were they thinking while they traipsed around the desert for forty years – FORTY years. Seriously?
He was correct to point out that they could not have lead the Israelites if they were in the Promised Land by themselves while the disobedient Israelites were still wandering in the wilderness. God kept them in their “desert wandering” position. Why? So they could exert a godly influence upon their nation, and become models of spiritual leadership for generations to come. They were delayed – but not thwarted – in carrying out God’s plans.
Just because I am a bit stuck on this “age” issue, I checked that point out a bit more closely.
Moses was 40 years old when he killed an Egyptian and fled to another country, got married and had sons. It is another 40 years before he has the ‘burning bush’ experience – so that would make him around 80. That is when he got the news from God that he would be sent to the Pharaoh to bring the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt.
OK, I am feeling a bit better – he was 80 when facing down Pharaoh, going through the plagues, and eventually fleeing Egypt leading a huge number of Israelites. And then another 40 years herding and handling a very frustrating and disobedient group of people around and around in the desert wilderness. I keep picturing sleeping on a pallet on the ground in a tent, no less!
Actually, when they first got to the Promised Land early in their journey, spies were sent in to the Promised Land to check it out. Joshua and Caleb were in that group, and the only ones reporting correctly and with faith in the Lord. It is estimated they would have been in their 20’s. Remember, God’s punishment of the Israelites for refusing to enter the land he would give them was that they would wander another 40 years in the wilderness until a new generation could enter Canaan, the Promised Land.
By the time that “wandering 40 years” was finished and they were back at the Promised Land, Moses was 120 and Joshua and Caleb probably were in their 60’s. As you may remember, Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised Land but he glimpsed it before he died there.
God ultimately brought Caleb and Joshua into the Promised Land just as He had said He would do. And they were the leaders He had designated – plus they were the only men who remained alive of those who went to scout out the land in the early part of the journey. (Numbers 14:38)
It is noteworthy that Joshua’s leadership is marked by several key accomplishments – leading the Israelites across the Jordan River, orchestrating the conquest of Jericho, overseeing the distribution of the Promised Land. His unwavering faith in God and commitment to the covenant are evident throughout his leadership.
Modern biology would find Moses’ 120 years as “implausible”. As I researched this, I settled on the source that pointed to a reason — “a theistic worldview acknowledges that God can set aside usual biological constraints for specific redemptive purposes.” In other words, God can do as He wishes! Right?
That fits exactly where Blackaby ended his lesson for me. “No one can hinder God from carrying out His plans for your life. Once God sets something in motion, no one can stop it.” (Isaiah 46:11 – “What I have said, that I will bring about; what I have planned, that will I do.”)
I take comfort, as I hope you find as well, in knowing He is in charge of my unfinished work and projects – what He decides shall be done, will be done!
