NUMBERS 32

So, the Israelites are again poised to enter the Promised Land, when the Reubenites and Gadites come to Moses and request to settle where they already are, outside the border of Canaan. After Moses makes sure they don’t intend to desert their Israelite brothers in the effort to drive out the Canaanites from the land, Moses makes the deal to let them have the land on the other side of the Jordan as their inheritance.

There was nothing wrong with making this deal. What was most important was that they weren’t going to abandon their fellow countrymen in their time of need. However, it made me think of how often I am satisfied to settle when it comes to God — instead of continuing to move forward.

I think we all do this, a lot. We have a "mountaintop" spiritual experience — and we want to stay right there. We accomplish a personal goal — and we’re ready to tread water. We achieve a small victory over sin — and we’re content to settle right down and "inhabit" that territory. But God is always on the move!

Life with God is a grand journey, an epic adventure. And He never takes us backward. He is always going forward. Even when we do something that causes a setback in our lives, He takes that setback and turns it into a setup. He is always seeking to take us higher, further, and deeper. Just because we’ve reached a spiritual peak today, it only means there’s more to come.

Let’s never be too quick to "settle" during our journey with God. He always has something better for us. To be sure, He will never take us any faster than we are willing or able to go. But He never wants us to go backward. He wants to take us forward (I can’t resist the famous line from Toy Story, here) to infinity and beyond!