6 ‘Then I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and you came to the sea; and the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea. 7 So they cried out to the Lord; and He put darkness between you and the Egyptians, brought the sea upon them, and covered them. And your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. Then you dwelt in the wilderness a long time.
Joshua recounts the works of God in the lives of the people by speaking for God in the first person. Throughout his retelling of their story, God is “I” again and again. But verse 7 ends differently. The focus is on the pronoun “you” and the failure of the people to trust God for their journey.
“I brought you out…the Lord put darkness between you and the Egyptians…YOU dwelt in the wilderness a long time.” There’s a clear sense that a lot of years were wasted in their departure from the way God intended.
I wonder how much unnecessary wilderness is in our lives. Just as for them, our lives sometimes lead through wilderness passages, but we can find ourselves staying there a lot longer than necessary when we don’t trust God, don’t live by faith, or settle for less than His plan.
How much better the story becomes when God can say “I did this…” and we follow closely behind.
– Dr. Mike Clarensau serves as Senior Director of the Healthy Church Network of the Assemblies of God.
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