“44 The Lord gave them rest on every side, just as he had sworn to their ancestors. Not one of their enemies withstood them; the Lord gave all their enemies into their hands. 45 Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.”
Above is a map of the land the Israelites were given by God and sectioned off by clan. At the end of chapter 21 of the book of Joshua verse 44-45 says that the Lord gave them rest on every side and not one of there enemies withstood them. Not one of the Lord’s promises failed, every one was fulfilled.
Roughly, a 645 year period of time passed from when God promised Abraham that He would make him great nation and the Exodus from Egypt. Another 40 years in the desert between Egypt and the promised land. Yet in a single campaign of war Joshua led the Israelites and conquered the promise land.
For those of us who cannot see God every day working in our circumstances here is a lesson for all of you. The deserts of life are where God cleans you up so He can move you into what He has promised. Act 1:7 tells us, “He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;” Jesus was telling his disciples that spending energy on when things will get better or when, in their minds, was Jesus going to restore the kingdom of Israel in the natural are not what we should be doing. Rather, verse 8 tells us what we should be focused on, it reads, “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” We should be spending our efforts on being a witness, not on when God will make things better.
Those desert times in your life can be long and hard. In the poem “Footprints” the man looks back at his life and sees one set of footprints in the sand during the hard times of his life and he asks God, “where were you during those times?” God’s response is, “Those are my footprints, I was carrying you during those times.” If we are not careful we can spend our whole life wondering why and being mad at God for the bad times or we can spend those times praising Him for carrying us even though we don’t even realize it. Psalm 73:26 says, “My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” We must use understand that the Lord sustains us during those hard times while we praise Him in the middle of the storm.
Every one of the promises was fulfilled and not one failed. 2 Corinthians 1:20 tells us, “For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory.” Today stand of God’s timing and his promises. We all need to remind ourselves of verses 44-45.
Prayer: Father, I pray that we put our hope in You. I pray that we put our trust in You. I pray that we put our faith in You and You alone. Help us to see the Holy Spirit at work all around us in good times and bad times. Help us to know that you sustain us during those desert times. In Jesus name, amen.
Let It Go 
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