Ok today is a hard couple of chapters to read Because Moses gets really honest here, and you can feel it. He tells them how he asked God, he pleaded, really, Please let me go over and see the good land. And you have to think about everything he had carried up to this point. Egypt, the wilderness, leading these people through all of it, He had been there from the beginning. So of course he wanted to step into it. Of course he wanted to see the Promise Land with his own eyes and walk in it.
And God tells him no. But can we talk about the open dialog he has with God? I want to be able to talk to God like that. But with that also came a deeper calling and a heavier weight and responsibility.
And when Moses begs one last time to enter the Promise, God says No. That's hard. Not when God says no to something small, but when it's something you've been carrying for a long time, something that feels like it should have been part of your story.
But what really jumps out to me isn't just that God said no, it's what Moses does with it.
He doesn't throw a fit. He doesn't make the whole thing about what he didn't get. He turns right back to the people and says, "Now you obey so that you may live and go in and take possession of the land."
He shifts from what he's losing to what they still have in front of them. I can't go, but you can, so don't mess this up. Almost like he's saying, Don’t repeat what we did. Don't miss this."
Then as you keep reading into chapter 4, you can feel the urgency in his voice. He keeps reminding them to remember, to not forget what God has done, to not add to it or take away from it, to stay close to what God said.
Because he knows how easy it is to drift.
You forget what God brought you out of. You forget what He's already done. You start listening to other voices, and before you know it, you're off course again.
Sometimes you can do what God asked, you can walk it out, stay faithful and still not get the ending you thought you would. And that can be hard to handle. But Moses shows us something I don't want us to miss.
🌟 You can still be obedient even when you're disappointed.
🌟 You can still finish well even if it doesn't look the way you thought it would.
He didn't get to cross over but he didn't stop leading, didn't stop speaking truth, didn't stop pointing people toward God.
So here's what we need to ask ourselves today...
Is there anything I'm holding onto that God already said no to?
And if there is am I still willing to trust Him and move forward anyway?
🎯 Today's Anchor
"Obey... so that you may live..."
— Deuteronomy 4:1
Day 2 feels a little heavier but in a good way.
Because it reminds us that our obedience isn't tied to getting the outcome we expected.
It's rooted in trusting the God who's been faithful the whole way through.
And he Has!
Love Pastor Mandy
Ark of Hope Ministry
Daily Reading Deuteronomy 3-4
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