Remember

At church, we have been going through the book of Joshua. The series was entitled The Land, and it paralleled the walk of the Israelites on their way to their Promised Land with our own struggles on our walk into the ultimate calling and blessings in our life.

….I’ll bet, like me, they doubted.

I’ll bet they awoke some mornings without zeal for the long walk ahead of them that day. I’ll bet they wondered some days where they were, and if they were on the right route. I’ll bet some days they forgot even where they were headed. I’ll bet some days they awoke with very little hope. I’ll bet they often felt like they were going to wander the wilderness forever. That sometimes even the manna they miraculously received felt paltry and dry.

I’ll bet, like me, they also hoped.

I’ll bet they clung to reminders that one day, one day sooner or later, they would come to the promised land. Reminders like the ever present smoke and fire. They reminded one another, I’ll bet. They would tell one another, “He promised. He promised us a home, a resting place, plenty. He promised that one day we would get there. We will.” When they days got long, and dusty, and hopeless, they reminded one another. They remembered for one another.

I’ll bet some days they just wished the Lord had given them a map. But if He had given them a map, they could have done it all on their own strength. Instead they, like me, had to learn the lesson of daily obedience. Of not knowing, but staying close to him, and following day by day, hour by hour, step by dusty step. They had to daily awake, gather their manna, and follow the pillar of smoke.

And remember.

 

He promised.