Deuteronomy 3
And I [Moses] commanded Joshua at that time, “Your eyes have seen all that the LORD your God has done to these two kings. So will the LORD do to all the kingdoms into which you are crossing. You shall not fear them, for it is the LORD your God Who fights for you.”
Deuteronomy 3:21-22
As the questions in Search the Scriptures suggest, Israel’s defeats of Sihon and Og serve both as bold proof against the faithless claims of the spies from Kadesh years earlier and as encouragement for moving forward. The people can look back at their earlier mistakes, then look at the recent successes from the LORD, and look forward in faith and confidence for what the LORD has in store for them.
We likewise should periodically review our own lives. We should acknowledge our past weaknesses and failings, but we should not get stuck there. We should recall the many good things God has done for us and in us and through us, His ongoing steadfast love and faithfulness. In remembering what God has already done (especially on the Cross and in the Resurrection), we should look forward in faith that He is able to carry us through whatever He calls us into.
But although we should have ultimate faith that God will accomplish His purposes, that doesn’t mean that if we “believe hard enough” that He’ll just do whatever we want. We can see this in God’s refusal to grant Moses’ earnest request to enter the Promised Land. Moses certainly had faith — I daresay better and stronger faith than all his countrymen — but God said, “No.” And that is where genuine faith really kicks in, to accept God’s will even when it is not what we (think we) want.
Although I’ve read through Deuteronomy many times, I have never been more struck by Moses’ request to enter the Promised Land than this time. He pleads to go in just a little way. And as John S. pointed out, God said, “No.”
I am convicted of my guilt in wanting my own way so often and resisting God’s “No” when my prayers “aren’t answered” (in my opinion). Often I later realize my misguided motives or his greater purpose for my life. Sometimes I don’t.
But God is God, and I am not.
I am so glad…