Tonight I had the pleasure of traveling to Portland with a group of friends from my church to hear Pastor Chris Hodges from Church of the Highlands in Birmingham, Alabama preach. Not only did we develop a few good nicknames along the way (that one's for you Space Invader), but Pastor Hodges brought a great word tonight. He began by telling us the story of Church of the Highlands & informed us that, despite what people may believe, it wasn't an overnight success- He went through a lot of battles to get to the point where his church is reaching an average of 15,000 people any given Sunday. He used the story of Joshua to affirm that God's promises for us don't come overnight- we have to battle & push through in order to get to that place.
I, like so many people, hate the travel process. I want things to be easy now instead of having to be patient & wait- the perfect job, finishing college (praise the Lord that one's done!), getting married, among others. The trouble with wanting things now is that I lack the maturity that's gained in the process of me reaching my destination. "If you don't like the travel process you're never going to get to the Promised Land."
In Joshua chapter one, God makes a promise to Joshua that He's going to give them a vast expanse of land (the Promise Land, aka Israel) & that He's going to make Joshua a success. Skip ahead to chapter twelve, we find out that Joshua & the army had to defeat thirty-one kings in order to gain the Promised Land. That's a LOT of battles...& they weren't all won overnight. It takes perseverence to finally come into God's promises.
God told Joshua to "be strong & courageous"...He knew the journey wouldn't be easy, but it would be rewarding in the end if Joshua continued to push through to the end. So my challenge for you (...& me) is to keep pushing through & leaning on the Holy Spirit as you work to come into the Promised Land that God is going to give you.
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