Daily Devotionals

Monsoon: Week 1 - Saturday

"Now, as you can see, the Lord has kept me alive and well as He promised for all these forty-five years since Moses made this promise—even while Israel wandered in the wilderness. Today I am eighty-five years old. I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey, and I can still travel and fight as well as I could then." Joshua 14:10-11

The wilderness captured my heart last summer. This may sound strange to you, so let me explain. Last summer, I spent three weeks in Israel. Four of those days were spent in the wilderness, where the Israelites spent so much time waiting to enter the Promised Land. One day in the wilderness, my group and I were given time to get alone and reflect on what we had learned. During this time, I was having a hard time trusting God and His plans for my life. As I was sitting down, reflecting in the wilderness, I prayed to God and told Him that I was having a hard time trusting. Next, I felt prompted to answer this question: "Has God ever let me down?" As I thought about how I would respond to this question, I knew that there was only one answer: "No." And as I sat in the wilderness, I remembered how God has taken care of me throughout my entire life. No, God has never let me down. And if He has never let me down in the past, He will never let me down in the future. He will never let you down either, even when you are in the wilderness.

Joshua and Caleb, the two leaders of Israel who believed God would give the people of Israel the Promised Land, knew this well. They trusted God in the wilderness and reaped the benefits of their faith in Him. When the rest of Israel was not allowed to enter the Promised Land, Joshua and Caleb were allowed to enter. They waited forty years to go into the Promised Land. You can read about Joshua and Caleb's entrance into the Promised Land in the book of Joshua. In Joshua 14, Caleb requested his portion of the Promised Land. "Now, as you can see, the Lord has kept me alive and well as He promised for all these forty-five years since Moses made this promise—even while Israel wandered in the wilderness. Today I am eighty-five years old. I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey, and I can still travel and fight as well as I could then" (Joshua 14:10-11). Stop for a moment, and read those few verses again. It's remarkable to see Caleb's faith and God's faithfulness. He still had the strength and health of a forty-five-year-old. God kept His promise. And I do not think that Caleb was a bit surprised. Because of his faith, he experienced the reward for His faith in God. Joshua did, too. Will you?

As you consider your life, do you have the faith of Joshua and Caleb? Do you believe that God will take you through whatever wilderness you are facing and show Himself faithful at the end of the wilderness? My friend, one promise from God, found in the Bible, is that God "causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose," especially in our suffering (Romans 8:28). He will even use your time in the wilderness for good.

Laura Courtney
Sagebrush Staff Writer

Moving Toward Action

Take some time to get alone with God. Meet Him, right where you are, even in the middle of whatever wilderness you are in. Tell God that you trust Him, even in the wilderness. Then, make sure to come to church this weekend online. When you feel like you are in the wilderness, it is great to be connected to people of faith who can cheer you on.

Going Deeper

Read Joshua 14:6-15 (NLT)

A delegation from the tribe of Judah, led by Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, came to Joshua at Gilgal. Caleb said to Joshua, “Remember what the Lord said to Moses, the man of God, about you and me when we were at Kadesh-barnea. I was forty years old when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent me from Kadesh-barnea to explore the land of Canaan. I returned and gave an honest report, but my brothers who went with me frightened the people from entering the Promised Land. For my part, I wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God. So that day Moses solemnly promised me, ‘The land of Canaan on which you were just walking will be your grant of land and that of your descendants forever, because you wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God.’

“Now, as you can see, the Lord has kept me alive and well as he promised for all these forty-five years since Moses made this promise—even while Israel wandered in the wilderness. Today I am eighty-five years old. I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey, and I can still travel and fight as well as I could then. So give me the hill country that the Lord promised me. You will remember that as scouts we found the descendants of Anak living there in great, walled towns. But if the Lord is with me, I will drive them out of the land, just as the Lord said.”

So Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave Hebron to him as his portion of land. Hebron still belongs to the descendants of Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite because he wholeheartedly followed the Lord, the God of Israel. (Previously Hebron had been called Kiriath-arba. It had been named after Arba, a great hero of the descendants of Anak.)

And the land had rest from war.