Don't Look Back

Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” Numbers 14:13

God had called the Israelites to leave Egypt. He saw them in the bondages of slavery, and he heard their cries of pain and saw their torment. He recruited a man named Moses as their leader to take the charge of moving them into the Promised Land, a land flowing with milk and honey. As they traveled through the desert, reaching their destination could have taken approximately 11 days. But it wasn’t until 40 years later that they reached Canaan. Their delay was because of their lack of faith, unwillingness to listen, and struggles with their own little gods.

Like the Israelites we have worshipped little gods and wondered in the desert. Little gods come in many forms such as money, time, sex, people, social media, TV, and especially the god of self. God will not tolerate other gods in our lives. He deserves and wants to hold first place in our heart, soul, and mind. He wants us to love him with our strength. God wants to be all we think about. He wants our work to be for him and his purposes. He wants our longings to be for more of him. And he will work to free us from our little gods. The problem is that often as he’s trying to free us from our slavery we long to go back to the worthless god. Why? Because leaving a god is uncomfortable. It is even scary. And, just like the Israelites, we can hate what we are leaving, but the hardships of making changes are so difficult. Although the Israelites were abused and taken advantage of, they did have food to eat and a place to sleep. There was good within the bad, but God’s desire is to move us to where it is only goodness! And that isn’t an easy journey.

When God is working to take a bad choice and bring you healing, don’t look back. If he is calling you to a new relationship, job, or location, don’t look back. Set your eyes on God and trust that what lays on the other side is for your good! It won’t be easy. You will have to learn to trust and have patience, but God never leads you into something that he won’t lead you through! And where he is leading is a Promised Land indeed.