Scripture:

“But you all came to me and said, ‘First, let’s send out scouts to explore the land for us. They will advise us on the best route to take and which towns we should enter.’

This seemed like a good idea to me, so I chose twelve scouts, one from each of your tribes. They headed for the hill country and came to the valley of Eshcol and explored it. They picked some of its fruit and brought it back to us. And they reported, ‘The land the Lord our God has given us is indeed a good land.’

But you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God and refused to go in. You complained in your tents and said, ‘The Lord must hate us. That’s why he has brought us here from Egypt—to hand us over to the Amorites to be slaughtered. Where can we go? Our brothers have demoralized us with their report. They tell us, “The people of the land are taller and more powerful than we are, and their towns are large, with walls rising high into the sky! We even saw giants there—the descendants of Anak!”

But I said to you, ‘Don’t be shocked or afraid of them! The Lord your God is going ahead of you. He will fight for you, just as you saw him do in Egypt. And you saw how the Lord your God cared for you all along the way as you traveled through the wilderness, just as a father cares for his child. Now he has brought you to this place.’

But even after all he did, you refused to trust the Lord your God, who goes before you looking for the best places to camp, guiding you with a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day.” Deuteronomy 1:22-33 (NLT)

Perspective:

In Deuteronomy, Moses was preparing the Israelites for their entrance into the Promised Land, even though he would not be accompanying them. He reminded them of what had transpired. Spies had been sent into the Promised Land, the people were afraid, and refused to take hold of the promise that God had given them. Then, the people thought that God was hating them because they were stuck in the desert. Even though the people could see God working in the pillar of fire and cloud, they chose not to trust him. They couldn’t get past how they felt God had treated them unfairly. They didn’t trust God even though He kept showing them that He was helping them. The result was a generation that wandered in the desert. Moses reminded the Israelites because they represented a new group of people who were going to enter the Promised Land, and he didn’t want them to miss the opportunity because of past failures to trust God.

Have you ever felt like God has treated you unfairly? You may find yourself today in a place where this echoes in your heart. There has been something in your life that hasn’t gone like you had planned or hoped. The promises that God placed in your heart seem as far away as the Promised Land seemed to the Israelites in the desert. They couldn’t see the Promised Land because of the desert. The desert consumed a whole generation, but they were originally supposed to just pass through. Could it be possible that the place where you feel God has treated you unfairly was only meant for you to pass through not stay? Don’t build your house in the desert. It may be where you are at today but it is not where you are going.

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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About Hona Amer

I help people live life to the fullest. Check out my book, Smart Work U. Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. In order to receive updates, subscribe below.

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