Daily Stillness

Today’s Verse

📖 Today’s Verse:

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.”

—Deuteronomy 31:6 (NIV)

Bible Study

Are We There Yet?

Can you imagine gathering your family and announcing, “We’re taking a road trip. It will take eleven days to get there. We’re heading to our new home.”

Everyone packs their things, full of excitement. Eleven days. Manageable. A week and a half of travel before fresh beginnings. But then… what if that trip stretched not to weeks, not to months, but to forty years?

That sounds crazy, doesn’t it?

And yet—that is exactly what happened to Moses.

I try sometimes to put myself in his shoes.

The exhaustion. The responsibility. The weight of leading not four people in the backseat of a car, but thousands of people across a barren wilderness.

We’ve all been on long car rides with our families. They’re filled with constant interruptions:

“Are we there yet?”

“I need to go to the bathroom.”

“I’m hungry.”

“I’m bored.”

Now imagine not four voices but thousands. Not eleven days, but forty years. Every day long. Every step heavy. Every complaint like a rock thrown at your resolve.

Honestly? I wish I could say I’d be like Moses—steady, prayerful, encouraging others to trust God every step of the way. But if I’m being real, I’d probably be the “Are we there yet?” person. Or the one saying, “I’m tired of this food.” Or worse, the one suggesting, “Maybe we should just go back. Egypt wasn’t so bad.”

And if I’m really honest, I’ve judged the Israelites more times than I can count while reading their story.

How could they complain after seeing the Red Sea part in front of their eyes? How could they doubt after watching God’s hand deliver plague after plague until Pharaoh finally let them go? How could they forget His faithfulness so quickly?

But here’s the thing: the more I point my finger at them, the more I start to see myself.

Because don’t I do the same?

God has kept His promises to me too.

He has healed me, my family, my friends.

He has spared me from accidents, restored my soul when I thought it was too broken to fix.

He has given me gifts and talents, poured out mercy and grace, and forgiven me when I’ve done the unforgivable.

And yet—I still grumble. I still wander. I still question His plan.

Just like the Israelites, I’ve stretched what should have been an eleven-day journey into forty years. Or at least into weeks and months longer than it needed to be—because I resisted change, because I turned to my own way, because I doubted His timing.

I’ve made a season of waiting into a wilderness of wandering.

But here’s the good news: God has never left me there.

Just as Moses told the people in Deuteronomy 31:6, “He will never leave you nor forsake you,” I can look back and see that He never has. Not once.

And we—unlike the Israelites—are even more equipped. Because we don’t just have God above us; we have His Spirit within us. We know the ending of the story. We know the victory that’s already been won.

And yet we still wander. Still doubt. Still question.

But the wilderness doesn’t have to be our forever.

So today, instead of reading the Israelites’ story and shaking our heads, let’s pause and reflect.

Let’s remember the times we’ve resisted His plan. The moments we’ve chosen our way over His. The seasons we’ve turned waiting into wandering.

And let’s not reflect to drown in guilt or shame. That was never the point.

Let’s reflect so we can receive.

Receive His love.

Receive His mercy.

Receive His grace.

And learn again to trust His plan—because even when we wander, He never leaves us.

Reflection

Your wilderness doesn’t have to last forever. Waiting doesn’t have to become wandering. God’s plan hasn’t failed—you may just be in a season of learning to trust Him more deeply.

A Question for you

Where have you turned an eleven-day journey into a forty-year wander—because doubt or fear kept you from trusting His plan?

Prayer

Father, thank You for never leaving me, even when I grumble, question, or wander. Teach me to trust Your timing and Your plan, even when it feels long and heavy. Help me turn my waiting into worship and my wilderness into growth. Amen.

Share the Stillness

Know someone battling temptation or shame? Send this to remind them: the debt has already been paid.