“Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel.” Joshua 1:2
God had charged Joshua to take the children of Israel across the Jordan to the Promise Land. Moses had disobeyed God and was told by God that he would not go into the Promise Land with Israel. Also, the generation that Moses had led out of Egypt had died in the wilderness and this was a new generation that was going to go and take possession of the land.
God did not want Joshua to lament over Moses. God told Joshua Moses was dead and now Joshua must take the lead. For Forty years Israel wandered in the desert complaining and lamenting about their lives and what they had in Egypt. They could not see what was before them and the plans God had for them. They kept looking back. God did not want Joshua to look back, Moses was gone and now it was time to move on.
Many of us are in the same situation. There is something that has died in our lives but we have a tendency to look back. We lament over a situation, relationship or season that God has brought to an end. We stay stuck in the wilderness because we keep looking back and will not let go of the past. Change is never easy and often we prefer to stay in a place that is familiar than a place of the unknown even though it is full of promise and God’s blessings.
The generation that Joshua was leading knew the wilderness. They knew what it was like to eat Manna every day and be led by Moses. They witness the previous generation die in the wilderness. They had heard the stories of Egypt but their only point of reference was the wilderness. So God had to tell Joshua to let go of the past and move the people forward into the land God promised.
Before we can move forward we must let go of the past and those things that have died. Otherwise every time difficulty arises or things do not go our way we will just want to run back where we came from. This was Israel’s problem. Israel was going to enter the land of Promise and see the miracle at Jericho but after that victory that had to fight the people of the land in order to possess it. Yes God had given it to them but they had to fight to take it. They could not afford to look back and God knew that Joshua had to have the right mind set and let go of Moses. A new season had come and now the Joshua generation was marching into the Promised Land.
What are you waiting on God to do? What promises has He made? Have you let go of those things from your past and those things that have died? God is ready to move forward, are You?
I have read many prophetic words about 2017 and I keep hearing it is a new Season and God is doing a new thing. In order to experience God’s best we have to let go of what happened in last season and even last year. We have to find a way to lay these things at the alter and move forward in God. We have to claim and take possession of the promise. We are not supposed to just stand at the bank of the Jordan and marvel and the land. It is time to go and possess all that God has given us.
God tells Joshua that He is going to give this land to Israel, then God says He has given them the land and every place they step will be theirs. God never said it would be easy, He just said the land was theirs and to go and take possession. As you read the book of Joshua you will learn the battles Israel had to fight and some battles they lost but the finally took possession of the land. They never looked back and wondered about Moses and what might have been had he remained their leader. They looked to Joshua and followed his lead and God continued to demonstrate that He was with Joshua.
You may be going into a new season alone having lost friends along the way but God is with you. He will never leave you. Here is the thing you can stay in the wilderness and keep eating Manna every day, but you will forfeit your inheritance. The promise land was Israel’s promise, and though Moses had died it did not negate the promise of God.
No matter what people have done to you, broken relationships, the end of things that were familiar; when God says it is time to let go then let go. It is a new day and there is so much God has in store. Moses is dead! God is alive and with you!
Reflections 