40 Years is a Long Time

A while back I was reading this book, and was at the part in the story about Aaron where Moses sends spies from Israel into the land of Canaan to scout it out and report back on the land - what it's people are like, what the soil is like, etc. Of the twelve spies sent, ten come back with grim reports, saying that the people who live there are too big and fierce for them to defeat. Two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, report back on the bounteousness of the land - how it's flowing with milk &; honey - and how God would surely help them defeat the ungodly people currently living there.

The Israelites - true to form - gravitate to the lack of the faith of the ten, and begin the whole "we should have stayed in Egypt" bit again. Because of this, God punishes the Israelites and tells them none of them would enter the promised land. Instead, they would wander in the desert for 40 years, until the current generation died out. Only their children and Joshua and Caleb would enter the land God promised them. Joshua and Caleb would be able to enter the promised land because of their faith and trust in the Lord to deliver to them what He had promised - not matter how insurmountable the obstacles seemed. The whole story is in Numbers 13 and 14.

I've heard this story about a zillion times in my life, but I love the fact that God showed me (or at least reminded me) of something I hadn't thought about before. Joshua and Caleb were basically guaranteed that they would be entering the promised land - that good, bountiful land. But they didn't get it right away. They still had to wander in the desert with everyone else for those 40 years.

How hard that must have been! I wonder if they ever questioned God's plan in this. Did they ever ask "why can't we just go into the land now, and let everyone else wander"? During all those years of wandering, did they ever feel that they were being treating unfairly? After all, they had believed and didn't doubt...so why were they being punished with the rest of the people?

I don't know if Caleb and Joshua ever experienced any of those emotions. But I know I do. I believe with all my heart that God has only my best in store for me, in each step and stage of my life. Why then, is it hard sometimes to trust and continue to have faith during the "desert wanderings" when things don't make sense?

But God is ALWAYS faithful to His promises. He can't not be. He did bring Joshua and Caleb into the promised land...in His time, and in His way. 

This is something I need to be reminded of frequently, and I'm thankful that God used this well-known story to remind me of this anew.