Settling

“So that day Moses solemnly promised me, ‘The land of Canaan on which you were just walking [the Promise Land] will be your grant of land and that of your descendants forever, because you wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God.’”

‭‭Joshua‬ ‭14‬:‭9‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Today’s revelation: 

I’m reading in Numbers 32. The Israelites have still not yet entered the Promised Land but they’re very close. They have just fought the battle (chapter 21) to win the land they’re currently in. And in chapter 31, they destroy the Midianites as the last act the Lord asks Moses to do before he dies. 

At this point, the tribes of Gad and Reuben decide they like where they’re at. They have lots of animals and this land is lush and fertile. So they ask Moses if they can settle there and not go across the Jordan into the Promised Land. They make the point that this is land the Lord had them fight for and win so it’s His land already.  Moses eventually agrees after they promise they will come across and fight for the Promised Land with the rest of the Tribes. 

I felt the Lord say that some people will stop short of the Promised Land because where they are is good enough. It’s better than where they were (Egypt or the desert) and they don’t know what’s ahead so they stay where they are. It’s not that He doesn’t allow it, it’s just that He had MORE for them and they stopped short of His Promised Land. 

I felt like this was a Biblical example of so many people in their walks of discipleship. So many people settle after the Lord leads them through a battle for their freedom. They fight hard and they fight well. They allow Him to reveal and heal and redeem. They’re excited and uplifted because they’re not where they were before. They’ve received freedom! And it’s not that the Lord isn’t with them where they are now. He paid the price and He won the land they’re now in! 

But they’ve stopped short of the Promised Land of MORE that He had for them. The journey to the Promised Land requires more fighting and more unknowns and more depending solely on Him. Where they’re at is good, but it’s not His Best. Where they’re at He’ll be with them…but where He always had for them to go is an abundance of His Presence and His Promise and His Provision that they’ll never know. It’s His Promised Land! We’re not meant to settle short of His best!

Oh, Lord, don’t ever let me stop following hard after You into the Promised Land You have for me! You’ve given me a Hope and a Promise and a Vision for a reason…to keep my eyes on You! Help me never to long for the past Egypts in my life. Help me to remember Your Faithful deliverance from so many sinful and hurtful places. Let me not get despondent in the wildernesses I need to travel through. And let me not be so overjoyed with the freedom and the victory You lead me into that I settle short of Your absolute BEST for me. Because Your best for me will also be Your best for Your Kingdom!

Help me to know how to communicate this to other people and encourage them to keep pursuing You, keep chasing after You, keep doing the hard of battling for their sanctification because of the MORE that You promise us! Your Promised Land will ALWAYS be worth the battles to get there. It will ALWAYS be worth leaving behind the “good” for Your BEST!