19/04/2011 - The successor’s turn

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“After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, it came to pass that the LORD spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying: “Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them—the children of Israel.” (Joshua 1:1-2)

The Lord knows how to train His workers. He put Joshua by Moses’ side so that Joshua could see that man of God going through hard trials and then ending up victorious. It’d be good for all children of the Most High to walk alongside those servants who are being used by Him; they’d learn a lot. The Lord would swear them in and grant them His promises so that they could fulfil their calling with flying colors.

As much as we don’t like the idea, those who serve the Most High will also taste death, actually. We only know of two men that didn’t have to experience that: Enoch and Elijah. Yet, we don’t have to worry about the day when we’ll be called. Since it’s our Father the Creator of all things, we can believe that the experience of departing from this world will be amazing because we’ll go through the gates of Glory.

God is never caught by surprise and He knows the right time we’ll be assigned a task in the work He architected for us. He Himself will swear us in when the day comes. It’s sad to see that people are making politics in some Christian denominations in order to be elected as either a leader or a pastor. Yet, only the Commander is entitled to call and swear in only those He chose and trained. I wouldn’t enjoy being where God doesn’t want me to be.

Even if you feel you’re qualified to take over a certain mission, let the Lord take the lead because at the right time He will swear you in. Remember, He said nobody will ever be able to hinder His operation. We don’t even have to move one finger to assert our rights. It’s God Himself who raises and puts down; He knows how to do things. It was the Lord who set Joseph free from prison so that he could govern Egypt, which was the greatest country in the world in those days.

Being empowered by the Supreme, we’ll be given His promises by His own hands. Yet, we’ll probably be granted no revelation from our Father if we pay heed to someone else’s counselling. He not only makes promises, but He also promotes us according to His will by capacitating us to, for instance, lead a group of people.

The chosen ones mustn’t decline their calling or feel disqualified for the mission they’ve been appointed to accomplish. It’s not good to give excuses either, like Moses did. God never makes a mistake when He makes His choice and He knows very well when somebody is ready. When we observe what was said to Joshua in the verse above, we can see that Nun’s son was praying about what he wrongly thought was his incapacity. He did that because he thought Moses was better prepared than him – perhaps he even suggested Moses should resuscitate. 

But the Lord was emphatic when He said: “Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them—the children of Israel.” (Joshua 1:2)

In Christ, with love,

R. R. Soares