Letting Go: A Lesson From the Israelites

“It is [only] eleven days journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea [on Canaan’s border; yet Israel took forty years to get beyond It].” – Deuteronomy 1:2

“Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea, as the Lord directed me; and for many days we journeyed around Mount Seir. And the Lord spoke to me [Moses], saying, You have roamed around this mountain country long enough; turn northward. “ Deuteronomy 2:1-3

A journey that was meant to take eleven days took Israel forty years!

Think about that for a minute.

That is crazy, right?!

That is beyond comprehension.

One can read the story and think,

“Poor Israel. If only they learned their lesson quick enough, they wouldn’t have taken so long.”

But I can identify with them.

Life can be like that at times. The Israelites were in a hole. They had the wrong frame of mind, doubted God regularly, gave up plenty of times, and turned their backs on God.

They’ve lost hope.

We can criticize the Israelites all we want, but we must not forget one very important truth: They were humans.

They were God’s chosen people, but that didn’t mean they were perfect. They were in a hole and the only way out was with God’s help.

Without God, they were doomed to the hole they were in, and that forty-year trip could have taken much longer.

They might of possibly never escaped the desert if God hadn’t intervened.

“And the Lord spoke to me [Moses], saying, ‘You have roamed around this mountain country long enough;turn northward. ‘” – Deuteronomy 2:3

In this passage we see God calling His people to turn and go north, but what did north represent?

North represents a new beginning. It’s a new place the Israelites had never been to before.

As they turned north, things would change for them. They would see God’s hand in a way they had never seen before.

As they turned north, God would challenge them to abandon the old for the new!

As the year comes to an end, and we say hello to a new one,

It’s time to let go of old habits, old ways of thinking and other “old” things that are holding us back.

Letting go won’t be easy, but it will be totally worth it.

We need to let go of the old limiting habits and mindsets. They must go if we are going to ever move forward.

As the year ends we have another opportunity to let go of the old. 

Letting go starts now, but it won’t happen without God. We need His help because without Him we will remain unchanged.

A lot of people think if they just “will” themselves hard enough, they will let go and step into the new but that’s not true.

We need God’s help as we decide to go “north.”

“The righteous shall move onward and forward; those with pure hearts shall become stronger and stronger.” – Job 17:19

You are not destined to remain in the old way of life, in the old way of doing things. Your life can change.

I won’t say ‘simply let go’ because it’s not that easy but trust God. Let Him help you as you let go.

As God called His people to let go of the old, I don’t think it was an easy thing. It wasn’t a walk in the park for them.

They made mistakes, they got it wrong. There were times they asked for God’s help, and other times they went on their own.

We must pray and rely on the Lord completely as we let go of those things that are holding us back.

The good news is that with God’s help, we can do it!

God bless you.

– Rolain

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Rolain is a writer who is deeply in love with Jesus Christ.  He passionately believes God has a unique purpose for everyone (yes, everyone!). Through the Word of God and real life experiences, he shows you how to walk in the amazing purpose God has for you. He writes at Kingspeech: Inspiring Confidence and Courage in People

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