A Kingdom Of Receiving

Read: Joshua 14:6-15

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. Joshua 14:11-12

IN WORD

What must Caleb have thought all those years he wandered with his people in the wilderness? It wasn’t his fault Israel rebelled in fear and unbelief. He had believed. Yet his piece of the promise was delayed just as much as the Promised Land was delayed for the rest of the nation. God had pledged to preserve his life, but forty years is a long time to wish things had been different. Every step of the way, he could easily have regretted the hard-heartedness of his peers.

Most of us live with some sense of regret. Some of us are almost eaten up with it, lamenting the lost years, wondering “what if” about misplayed moments in our lives, and wishing we could get some of those decisions back. Caleb certainly felt regret, even though he hadn’t deserved the consequences of Israel’s rebellion. But even when our mistakes have cost us dearly, God is able to preserve us for the promise, to restore the years the locusts have eaten (Joel 2:25).

When Caleb finally entered the Promised Land—he and Joshua were allowed to experience it after the rest of their generation died away—he insisted on receiving the fulfillment of the promise that had been made to him. It wasn’t arrogance; he wasn’t being pushy. He was simply claiming what God had spoken to him, and he had every right to do so. He had waited long enough.

IN DEED

Life is filled with waiting. That’s part of living in relationship with a very patient and thorough God. But we don’t wait without purpose; we’re waiting for something. And when the time comes, God suddenly fulfills what He said He would do. We may have wondered if that day would ever come, but the Kingdom is not a place of empty promises. God means for us to receive them and rejoice in the fulfillment. And when we do, it’s as if the years didn’t matter. It’s never too late to enjoy what He has done.

ADDITIONAL READING: Joel 2:25-27

Faith in God will always be crowned.

WILLIAM S. PLUMER