Have You?

Deuteronomy 2:7 For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand. He knows your trudging through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.”

Have you felt sometimes that God just wasn’t there? Have you felt alone, wondered why God would let you go down these hard paths in life? Have you wondered why your prayers haven’t been answered, or even struggled with prayer completely? Have you wondered why the battle inside your mind rages on, taking you through a roller-coaster of emotions? Have you ever wondered why God allows the struggles in life? We all have, I have, and we could fill this entire ministry with a list of our doubts regarding our faith. I personally am in such a season of myself; a low season of doubt and depression that God is allowing in my life. God is allowing it, he may have even designed it, but in all of it, He uses it to strengthen me, to show me my need for him, and to give me glimpses of his sovereignty.

Moses had been leading Israel in circles in the desert for forty years. He was the leader God had chosen, and just imagine the weight of his nation that he felt. Imagine the doubt that he had, (even from the beginning), the doubt that Satan likely used as a great tool. Surely God continually had to speak to Moses in personal encouragement such as this passage above. Moses likely questioned all that was his life, not for hours or days, but for YEARS. In these coming passages in this scripture, Moses was going to learn of turning over his leadership, of conquering giants, and given just a glimpse from afar of the land God had promised him almost forty years ago. 27 Go up to the top of Pisgah, and lift your eyes toward the west, the north, the south, and the east; behold it with your eyes, for you shall not cross over this Jordan. 28 But command Joshua, and encourage him and strengthen him; for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which you will see. Moses in reflection saw God’s sovereignty, being in control of it all, and given a glimpse of the fulfillment of the promise that He would deliver them from slavery, after accomplishing what He wanted, even intertwined with Free Will, sin, and failure, for forty years.

When Moses was charging Joshua, charging him with what God had shown him and proclaimed they would conquer the giants that inhabited the land, Moses spoke of God being in control. 21 And I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, ‘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 through which you pass. 22 You must not fear them, for the Lord your God Himself fights for you.’ 23 “Then I pleaded with the Lord at that time, saying: 24 ‘O Lord God, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your mighty hand, for what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do anything like Your works and Your mighty deeds? When you are struggling with one of the low points in life, remember God has allowed your desert journey. Look back to where he has allowed you to wander. If you have proclaimed to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you have declared war on your enemy just as in Moses time. Your Lord Jesus has defeated Satan even before you do battle, just as those giants in Moses day had been. When the doubt comes, and I attest before you it will, reflect and remember God knows where you are now, where you have been, and where you are going. Rest in His sovereign control of it all, even the details of your life.