You ever walked into a right now message? I did! And you know how you almost don't make it to church and you're off kilter because you were out way to late last night? That's was me but I made my way down to Southern Maryland and heard what God had given His servant for me.
Let's get into it!
Life consists of new normals. When you're in a situation you had not expected: Welcome to your new normal!
The situations you face that are beyond your control are places where you will find you need a new normal.
The Book of Joshua begins with a hard situation.
After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ minister,
Moses My servant is dead.
Now the People of God were on the cusp of walking into what God had for them. Back in Genesis 12, God promised Abram He'd make him into a nation and that He'd give Canaan to his descendants. Now is that moment. The decedents of Abraham have been through trial and tribulation surviving 400 years of slavery and 40 years in the wilderness and they are literally across the river from the promised land and the unthinkable happens!
This is how I felt coming to the end of my PhD and then I....didn't get into medical school. All these things were falling into place and I thought certain things were going to happen in the way I envisioned and something beyond my control happened: no acceptance.
Moses, their leader, is dead.
Moses, the great liberator and emancipated, God's chosen leader who He spoke to the people through, who led them through the Red Sea that he parted under God's power. Moses, who had called unto God for food and received quail and manna from heaven. Moses, who struck a rock in the desert and from it flowed water. Moses, who had led God's people so mightily, was dead. So what now?
The people needed to find a way to go on....
I did too. And it started with going back to the lab and back to confocal. I had to go to what I knew....
So the first thing that has to happen when there's a new normal if you've got to accept it.
This is revealed in the text because God tells Joshua that Moses is dead. Now, Joshua knows Moses is dead. Joshua is Moses's assistant. Joshua knows but what he hasn't done is accept it.
The reality of the change in your situation has to be accepted. Until you accept what has happened you can't move on from this moment. Deut 34 says that the people wept for 30 days. The people were stuck. God spoke to Joshua because the breakthrough can't come if you haven't accepted your situation. Now this isn't easy because we don't like change. Life turning out a way we weren't expecting doesn't make me feel warm and gooey inside but change happens. The only thing you can be sure of is that things will change. You won't always get a heads up on the shift. There won't be a calendar pop up saying "Hey girl, you're not getting into medical school this year" or "Hey girl, the health problem is coming your way" or "Hey girl, someone you love is going to die." That's not how it works but accepting change is necessary. Its necessary because the alternative is not going to help you.
Don't get stuck! God hasn't left or abandoned you. The change in your life is no reason to think God doesn't care or to lose faith. It would be erroneous to think God is no longer by your side. Accepting change is actually a move in the direction of faith. When you accept something, you're saying "Okay God, not what I expected but what is it that you have for me that I couldn't see was better for me than the thing I was planning?" Can I tell you His plan is better for you than yours? It is and that thing you thought you needed or wanted.....He can do better!
Another thing about accepting change is that you don't have to like it.
I don't like what's happening right now but refusing to acknowledge it and accept it won't get me anywhere. Things aren't going back to normal. Nothing will ever be the same. Check. Got that.
But you know what the Bible shows us? Grieving the lose of what you thought you had is okay. Its cool. The people of God got 30 days of weeping before God stepped in to say y'all need to still get to my promise for you.
I miss the days of being able to rely financially on my parents but those days are over. OV-ER. Yea I get upset over them sometimes but there's nothing wrong with that. I miss the days of thinking she was just mine. I really do and yea I cry about it sometimes. Yea it hurts.
The fact that God let them grieve so long is indicative of the fact that grieving is good. Its a good thing. You've got to get the pain out somehow. If you don't do it constructively. you'll do it destructively. Its not a symptom of weak faith but of humanity. Jesus wept remember?
I'm so thankful that I've never let anyone shame me for my tears. I'm a cryer. I love crying. Its good for me. I cry all the time. Sometimes its just tears but I love a good cry. I'm talking eyes swollen in the morning, snot running, can't catch your breath crying. Why do I love it? Because my pain needs an expression and when I'm than incapacitated, my openness to God is multiplied. He can't heal me if I'm not willing to admit I need Him. He can't be my balm in Gilead if I'm busy acting like I'm unbothered.
The next vital step in getting to the New Normal is choosing to move forward.
Moses My servant is dead. So now arise [take his place], go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land which I am giving to them, the Israelites.
ARISE!
God is saying "Don't get stuck!" People are often right at the cusp of something great when something in their life shifts! You've got to keep moving forward.
My promise isn't where my change occurred. My promise still needs to be fulfilled. I can't be incarcerated by what's behind me because then I'll miss what's next.
In Hebrews 4:1 it says
Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest is still open, let us take care that none of you should seem to have failed to reach it.
It ought to scare you that you might not walk out your purpose. If you don't get God's promise to you, you've literally settled for mediocrity instead of His best. If you don't accept what's changed as well as move forward, the promise God gave you will remain across the river. Don't stay on the shore, able to see your promise, without actually taking hold to it.
Lord....this isn't a river, its an ocean in my life but I'm more afraid of not being on purpose than the temporary hardships, trials, and tribulations it'll take the get there. Help me not to be weary in well doing and gird up my faith in the face of adversity.
You can't allow what happened to you to trap you. You have to choose to move forward into your new season. Its a choice. You're going to grow through what you're going through. You're going to be wiser, stronger, better for this experience.
Lord, help me with the how. I can know the what but I need you in the middle of my how. Help me to change my perspective to see my movement as not disrespectful but as honoring what you have for me. I believe for your promise but I also believe for all the other promises you gave me and they need my attention too.
Also, people are watching how you handle this season in your life. They're watching because they know you know Him and they want to see how knowing Him changes things.
I sooooo know this to be true. I'm so humbled but I also realize there's responsibility there. I've got to seek Him because I want the way I do things to reflect Him.
God's got more for me to do. That leads right into the last point
See the bigger picture
God says go to the land which I'm giving you. The land is still there. Your promise still awaits.
Every place upon which the sole of your foot shall tread, that have I given to you, as I promised Moses
The death of Moses wasn't the final chapter. Regardless of what you think you've lost, your promise is still good.
I am intermittently discouraged. I thought what God was telling me He was going to do was going to happen faster. A set back, even a major one, doesn't nullifies God's promise. The victory has been won. God's word doesn't return void no matter what your situation looks like.
Despite the problem, you've still have God's promise. You've got to get back in the game. You've got to decide believe God in the middle of what looks like craziness.
And what's God going to give you to help you with your situation?
No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.
His protection: Regardless of what you're going to face, nothing can stand between you and your promise. God's elevation in your life isn't limited by what you see in the natural. His glory comes from the fact that it can't be done in the natural. His promise is going to require Him which means its going to require supernatural authority and movement. He's going to make provision for you.
Can I tell you there's nothing like is protection? Its so very different from anything I've ever experienced. I always say its like a buffer and it is. The things that would have you on a roller coaster are like a breeze you weren't expecting. Yea...you might stumble but that up and down nonsense...its just not there in that capacity anymore. I love the piece about how what God wants to do is going to require Him. I might have thought I could influence or nudge but its going to take God and God alone to bring His promises to pass and I've got enough faith to believe He'll do exactly what He says.
His presence: God's gone no where. He's right where He always was...with you. He's with you while you're going through. This is how you draw closes because you going to need to lean on Him. Joshua wasn't the leader of these people but if He drew close enough to God they'd see God using him and they'd trust him.
I asked Him why and He said because it would draw you closer to me. I'm not leading a whole bunch of people but people are watching how I do this. My behavior, my posture, my attitude all matter. Can I tell you His presence will change those things? I'm better because He's closer than a brother. He makes me able.
Even in your new normal, God's promise is still good. Its big picture, not minor setbacks and disappointments. Its the war, not this particular battle.
