Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.
Joshua 1:16
Finally! The Isrealites arrived in the land of Canaan.
After wandering in the desert for 40 years, Joshua led them into a land 'flowing with milk and honey'. As they arrived they gave this beautiful confession of Love towards God and their leader Joshua. Through the wandering in the desert, their faith in God had grown to become firm and truthful.
It hadn't been an easy time. Over the 40 years of wandering, many people had died. Moses himself also died never to reach the land that he had given up everything to lead his people from Egypt. Through their period in the desert, the Isrealites had suffered. Famines, Plagues, Wars and Death. All of the first generation that left Egypt other than Joshua and Caleb never entered the land of Canaan. It is a New Generation of Isrealites that entered Canaan.
Why is it that the whole of the first generation other than Joshua and Caleb never made it to Canaan?
The honest answer is that the first generation of Isrealites doubted God. They grumbled constantly and always saw their own problems as bigger than they were. They never believed that God would look after them.
In the book of John, the story of a invalid man comes out. For 38 years, he was not able to walk till he met Jesus, who told him to "Get Up! Pick up your mat and walk".
Sometimes in living life we too can grumble in our situations. We feel tired and weak. We feel we lack the ability to get up and go. In this position, it is important to remember the words of the Isrealites who had suffered for so long. Through this they had come to realise their foolishness of wandering in the desert.
Through this they had learnt to trust and hope in God. Through this they learnt to walk together with God. Through this, they could become strong and courageous!
