Eleven Days

"It is eleven days' journey from Horeb by way of Mount Seir to Kadesh Barnea."  Deut. 1:2.  Horeb, also known as Mt. Sinai, is located in the southern end of the Sinai Peninsula.  Going up from there to the top of the Red Sea is Mt. Seir, and then a little further north is Kadesh Barnea, which is very close to the border of Canaan.  This journey would normally take eleven days.  When Moses was recounting the journey of the children of Israel in Deut. 2:14, he said it had taken thirty eight years to make the journey.  Thirty eight years for an eleven day journey!  What were they doing for thirty eight years?  Deut. 2:3 says, "You have skirted this mountain long enough, turn northward."  They were walking around the mountain!  They were wandering in the wilderness.  God doesn't want us to wander around in our wilderness for 38 years!  He wants to bring us into our promised land, and it doesn't have to take thirty eight years!  If they had believed God, and moved in faith, they could have gone into their promised land.  Twelve spies had been sent out to spy the land and bring back a report.  Only Joshua and Caleb brought back a report of faith, while the other ten brought back a report of unbelief and defeat.  The people sided with the ten, and so they wandered in the wilderness for forty years, and died there just as they said they would.  Our challenge is to believe God's Word, and agree with it, no matter what the circumstances look like.  The giants were big, but our God is bigger!  The walls are high, but our God is higher!  The obstacles may look insurmountable, but we believe that our God is greater!  Believe God's Word, and speak God's Word, in spite of the circumstances.  This is where we must walk by faith, and not by what we see.  The Word is full of examples of people who overcame their challenges by faith.  Heb. 11 is a record of heroes who stood firm on their faith, and reaped their rewards.  Some were rewarded immediately, and others received their rewards later.  Believing God is always the right path to take.  Trust Him with all your heart, leaning not on your own understanding/.  You don't need forty years for an eleven day journey.  Ask God for the wisdom and ability to accomplish His will for your life, and enter into your promised land.

What are you believing God for today?