156 The Wrong Side of the Jordan (Deut 3)

Wheeling and dealing in high finances this evening.
A joy to speak to a normal, helpful bank dude at 8:30 at night.
It's a situation that raises annoyances.
Well one anyway.
I might lose the ute.
The "might" bit is the only annoyance in that sentence.
And when I say "lose", I mean "replace".
I've enjoyed it.
I've nearly run it to the ground.
But jolly, I'll be glad to see the end of it.
Sort of.
There you have it, all sentimental me.

Deuteronomy 3
Twice God says "Do not fear" in this chapter.
Once a recap.
The first time was when Israel came up against a man whose bed was made of iron and over 4 metres long.
Og was a monster of a man.
A big man.
A tad bigger than Daniel Boone.
Who was a man.
A big man.
Yet God enabled him, his fortified cities and his armies to be wiped out.
Completely.
His call to "not fear" was justifiably demonstrated.
Despite the odds.

The second time, God tells Moses to tell Joshua "Do not fear".
But He also expands this. This reason for a lack of fear.
God is fighting the battles for him.
History showed this to be true.
Yet I guess it's easy to tell someone to not be afraid.
Our senses, particularly sight will tend to get in the way of our anti-fear mechanisms.
We need to know, however that God doesn't change.
God keeps His word.
He can do, what our eyes and mind say can't be done.
He has already done it.
He will do it again.

Moses knew this.
He gazes one last time at the land he can only see, but never enter.
He encourages and brings strength to Joshua.
He has known what was required to lead.
He has known that faith was needed.
He knew wisdom would be required.
He knew that Joshua will need to know all this also.

I don't think you can teach that.
You experience it and it grows within you. Faith that is.
You need to be open to it.
Otherwise it makes no sense and what could happen, doesn't.
Moses learns this on the wrong side of the Jordan.

At least that what my muddled mind perceives this evening.
I'll probably re-read this tomorrow and slap my head and long for a rewrite.
The fogs of slumber can often distort the mind.
And so it is this evening.