The Promise of Presence

A promise.

Several generations passed.

400 years of captivity.

40 years wandering the desert.

The Promised Land in sight, then out of sight, then in it again. Amazing victories. Devastating losses. Seasons of sin. Periods of rejoicing and serving the Lord.

Finally, the death of Moses. It wouldn’t be long. All they’d waited for was about to be realized. The promise they’d clung to their whole lives, generation after generation was about to come true.

Tomorrow, Joshua said, God would do wonders in their sight.

Tomorrow came.

Not with battle cries or conquering. Not with settlement or recognition from anyone outside. We have no records of trumpets sounding or angels singing or any other fanfare. As with many moving days, the excitement was mixed with the practical aspects of relocating. It came with memories of the last massive move: the exodus from slavery in Eygpt.

Tomorrow came by entering the way they exited- on dry land. God, in a moment, had a river standstill and pile up in a heap so that His people would visually see what had always been true: God makes the way.

They entered after Him and crossed over before His presence.

Their feet stood, at long last, on the Promised Land.

Tomorrow came and went.

It was still days, months even, before the land was officially claimed, in the sight of all people, as their own. There were still wars to be fought and victories to be won in the name of the God Almighty. The land still had to be divided, people would need to stake their claims and build their homes. All of the establishing was left to do.

The past was behind, the promise was the present.

God stopped a river in their sight to remind them of who He was and where He was in the midst of the move and the promise: present.

Sometimes we look for the big victory. The recognition and affirmation that we have indeed arrived. We crave a sense of being established, of permanance. Our idea of promises realized looks big.

God reminds us the promise that He will always be with us is realized every day.

God reminds us the promise that He will always be with us is realized every day. Click To Tweet

God makes a way so that we might recognize, in knowing and following Him, a present far greater than the promise. We live in the presence of the promise-maker and promise-keeper.

{A version of this post was originally published here.}

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LINKUP party is open! This week, my friend @BethanyMcIlrath reminds us that we have a record in Scripture and in our lives saying that we can trust God's promises Click To Tweet