Focus

Stop and thank God for being present with you today. Ask for God’s guidance as you hear God’s voice through scripture and the writer.

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Read

Numbers 27:12-23 (NRSV)

The LORD said to Moses, “Go up this mountain of the Abarim range, and see the land that I have given to the Israelites. When you have seen it, you also shall be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was, because you rebelled against my word in the wilderness of Zin when the congregation quarreled with me. You did not show my holiness before their eyes at the waters.” (These are the waters of Meribath-kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.) Moses spoke to the LORD, saying, “Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint someone over the congregation who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the LORD may not be like sheep without a shepherd.” So the LORD said to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay your hand upon him; have him stand before Eleazar the priest and all the congregation, and commission him in their sight. You shall give him some of your authority, so that all the congregation of the Israelites may obey. But he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the decision of the Urim before the LORD; at his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he and all the Israelites with him, the whole congregation.” So Moses did as the LORD commanded him. He took Joshua and had him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole congregation; he laid his hands on him and commissioned him—as the LORD had directed through Moses.

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Reflect

I am convinced that my father knows everything. I can ask him about the 1983 World Series, and he will tell me the teams that played, the score of the winning game, their leading players, and the detailed back stories of said players. I can ask him about any band on the radio, and he will tell me their greatest hits and where the songs were recorded. My dad’s knowledge baffles me.

It can be hard to give full power to God. We can pray to God, praise God, and believe in God’s will, but we must give full control of our lives to God. When God calls us to appoint a leader, we must appoint a leader. When we are called to move, we must move. God will point us in the right direction; it is our duty to trust God’s plan and direction.

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Pray

Dear Lord, we can never understand your power or all-knowing mind. Help us to follow when you call us to act. Please have patience when we fail to obey. You have control in even the most bizarre or hopeless situation; we place our trust and well being in you. Amen.

Go with God.