Let me start by saying, "Hi!"
It's been too long since I've last written. But this revelation was too good to sit on, so I had to hop on here and share it with you all.
This walk with God is one that takes many forms over the course of our lives. Sometimes we feel super close to God and others we might feel far away. It's not because He's moved at all; it's because we can be guilty of allowing our circumstances or moods to dictate our routine. At least for me, I feel like some of my toughest moments, I find the hardest to pray about and pray through.
A goal of mine was to read the Bible from front to back. I obviously have read many different scriptures and know different stories throughout the Bible, but I wanted to dive deeper and devote myself to actually comprehending what I read in its entirety.
Think of it this way -- if you went and bought a book from Barnes & Noble, but only read random paragraphs throughout instead of reading it cover-to-cover like the author intended, you wouldn't grasp the entire picture. You'd likely be missing the whole point. That was my thought when I embarked on this journey.
Right now I'm in the book of Joshua.
Joshua led the Israelites across the Jordan river to the Promised Land after Moses died. God had His hand over Israel. They were a blessed people and He protected them from many things. They eventually started to feel like they could do life without God, so God took His hand of protection off of them. He allowed them to experience 7 years of turmoil. Which is where I have to add that we have to be careful about what we ask for, because we just might get it! They cried out to God when they had enough, and He was gracious and merciful. Even after they lost their way and chose to take their own path, God accepted them back with open arms and blessed them despite their decisions.
I can think of so many times where I have experienced this same scenario in my own life.
In Joshua 21:43-45 the Bible says, "So The Lord gave to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it. The Lord gave them rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them; The Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand. Not a word failed of any good thing which The Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. ALL CAME TO PASS."
Reading that gave me so much hope for my own life. It speaks to the mistakes we make and allows us to relate to the Israelites, who did the same thing. But what it says even more than that, is that God will always come through on His word. It may be taking longer than you expect and it may not always look the way you hope, but He will NEVER fail.
God is not a liar.
Those promises that He put on your heart will come to pass. We have to remember that God does not work on our timeline.
We are in a rush -- God is not.
Yes, the destination is important and should be celebrated.
But the journey is where we learn the most about ourselves and God's unfailing, unconditional love.
There is nothing you can or cannot do to earn God's love. He has already given it to us because of the price Jesus paid on the cross.
So when you feel like blessings might be delayed because of mistakes you have made or routes you've taken in life, remember the Israelites.
They made mistakes, BUT God.
God blessed them and fulfilled His promises regardless.
Hebrews 8:12 says, "For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more."
God is love.
And God says that love holds no record of wrongdoing. So if God is love, that means that God holds no record of wrongdoing.
He is merciful and gracious.
Rest in that truth today.
He loves you and extends the same hand of protection over you that He did for the Israelites.
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