I pleaded with the LORD at that time, saying: O Lord GOD, You have only begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your mighty hand. Let me cross over and see the good land beyond the Jordan. But the LORD was angry with me on your account and would not heed me.
Moses is honest about his grief. He wanted to cross the Jordan. He asked God. God said no.
I'm learning what it means to ask and be denied. I prayed my marriage would work. It didn't. I prayed my child would be healthy. He wasn't. I prayed for a job I wanted desperately. It went to someone else.
What Moses models is something important: you can be faithful and still have requests denied. You can be someone God trusts and still face no. Your request being denied doesn't mean you're out of favor.
Moses doesn't spiral into bitterness. He doesn't blame God for being unjust. He grieves, he's honest about it, and then he moves forward. He does what he can do. He blesses the people. He makes sure the transition to Joshua happens smoothly.
I think about what I can control and what I can't. I can't control whether my prayers are answered. I can control how I respond. I can control whether I become bitter or whether I still show up, still serve, still bless those around me.
Moses didn't get what he asked for. But he got something else - a view of the land from Pisgah, a sense of his life's significance, a legacy. Not what he wanted, but it was enough. And maybe that's what faith means sometimes - not getting your prayer answered but trusting that you'll be okay anyway.
No comments yet. Be the first.