"Moses my servant is dead!” So ends the first era of a nation.  An era is a period of time defined by a dominant theme, trend, values or personality.  In this this case God was announcing the end of Moses’ era.  It had taken three cycles of his life each lasting about forty years.  The early years of Moses life was lived in the opulence of the palace, the second on the backside of the desert in exile tending sheep and finally as Prophet, deliverer and political leader.  He had cast a formidable shadow but he was not successful in that he did not accomplish his primary objective. This involves leading Israel into the land that the Lord promised them. At the end he was given an opportunity by God to overcome the anger with which he had struggled all his life and was victorious but missed the promised land.

Failure can be personal, corporate and even generational.  Moses had fallen short of his mission when he ran out of time, which can be instructive to us.  I want to focus our thoughts on dealing this particular challenge. What do you do when you come to a critical point of evaluation and find you are not the person you are supposed to be, or fulfilling your potential?  Joshua is being addressed by God at this critical time of transition and being tasked with fulfilling the only assignment the leadee has followed for over forty years have failed to accomplish.  To do what has not been done before requires doing something different, making adjustments- in a word: “change.” “

Change” is a dreaded word!  When you talk about change you are talking about a basic tension between the comfort of being where you are and the need to move to your required or desired place.  If you are like me, change comes hard for you.  Some people do not like change but I am not one of them although many people think I am.  I love change but only when I am convinced change is necessary or it is the answer.  I love to move ahead and prosper more than anything.  My pain is that I am way off pace in my mind concerning where I am supposed to be.  Like Joshua and Moses, more often than not we are somewhere short of the promise land.   I want to change to get where I need to be, the problem is I find change, the change process that is, difficult for me.

It is difficult to struggle with a desperate need to change and find that you are powerless to effect the change you desire and need.  What if like Joshua you have been ringside to the failure of your greatest hero?  Or perhaps you are facing countless failed resolutions and attempts.  What if your failures have been public or involved broken promises or those you care about no longer believe your resolve?  What if this is just another year to hope, to overcome the hurdles and to reach the heights that have eluded you so many times before?  Take courage; know as this New Year begins, your aspirations are within reach- by faith.  

Joshua’s era did not end like Moses’, he was able to take the nation of Israel into the promise land. In the same way this year does not have to end like the last. It offers new possibilities for you, because change is difficult but it is possible.

"It's Just A Thought"

EF

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