Stop Sulking & Start Encouraging!

Zarahlim.3/16/09

Stop Sulking & Start Encouraging!

"At that time I pleaded with the Lord: 'O Sovereign Lord... Let me go over and see the good land
beyond the Jordan -- that fine hill country and Lebanon.' But because [of you] the Lord was
angry with me and would not listen to me, 'That is enough,' the Lord said. 'Do not speak to me
anymore about this matter...But commission Joshua and encourage and strengthen him, for he
will lead this people across and will cause them to inherit the land that you will see.'"
Deuteronomy 3:23-29

Moses pleaded with the Lord to let him see the Promised Land but God did not allow him to
enter it; instead, he asked Moses to "commission Joshua, encourage and strengthen him..." (v.28)

Lessons learned from this passage:

1. We cannot always get what we want, no matter how close we are to God. And your maturity
and devotion to God will be seen with the way you react when faced with this situation.
2. God may ask us to do things in the midst of a personal struggle (i.e. Moses must have felt
disappointed / "nalaos na" because not only was he not allowed to enter the land that they've all
been desiring to reach but he also had to train, encourage and strengthen the one who was to
replace him).
3. Obey God. Never mind what you're feeling; act on what you know is right, and that is to obey
God because He knows what He's doing.

a.) God knew what He was doing when He didn't allow Moses to enter the Promised Land.
b.) Moses obeyed God. What if he hadn't? The story might have turned out very differently. Who
would have trained Joshua (who became a great leader himself in the later part of the story) in
case Moses refused? Sure, God may have had someone do it, but then Moses would have failed
to fulfill in his mission. What could have happened if Moses hadn't obeyed?

Nowadays, in the struggle for power and acknowledgment, it's hard to be good to the one whom
you think is stealing what's rightfully yours. It all boils down to attitude, and what an attitude
Moses had! It must have been hard to do some encouraging and strengthening to Joshua. He
could have sulked and said, "Joshua should be the one encouraging and strengthening me, I'm
the one who's not going to be able to enter the Promised Land! I'm the one who led the Israelites
through Egypt and all the way to the gates of the Promised Land. If there's anyone who needs
encouragement, that'd be me!" Instead, he obeyed and did as God commanded.

In the midst of a NO answer to our prayer, our tendency is to sulk and pout. Let's learn from the
attitude of Moses, he obeyed God instead of sulking. He encouraged, acknowledging that his
job's already done because God thought so. He did not act as if he knew better than God; instead,
he accepted God's job order for him.