A Diamond Only Forms with Pressure

I forgot how much i loved Joshua until i trudged my way through the middle of Exodus to expose some truly excellent passages concerning God's interaction with man. The scriptures surrounding these Joshua sightings are very familiar - if not by actual quoting then by context. It is the giving of the 10 commandments by God to Moses. It is the construction of a golden calf and the declaration, 'Uhh. Well they there just gave me a bunch of gold and then I, uhh, threw it in the fire and out popped a golden calf!' Yeah. Great example of taking responsibility Aaron!

But now to Joshua. There's only two scriptures that i want us to look at. But these two give us an incredible insight into the heart of this man. In Exodus 24 we see God separating some individuals to come up the mountain to spend some time with Him. He picks Moses, seventy of the elders and Joshua. Then, in verse 13 we see Moses setting out with his aide Joshua. Moses leaves Aaron and Hur and the elders and the people and goes up the mountain with one man - Joshua. Joshua goes so far and then stops and waits while Moses enters into the cloud to spend time with God.

Moses spends a ton of QT with God. Now Joshua, even though it had been 40 days and 40 long nights, doesn't leave his position, doesn't crawl back down the mountain admitting defeat, doesn't build a false god with rocks and dirt and start dancing around it. No! He waits and he waits and he waits until he sees Moses coming down the mountain. You can imagine the joy that Joshua had when he saw Moses. He probably jumped to his feet and ran to Moses' side, excited to hear all about the move of God on the mountain.

However, the people had grown tired of waiting for Moses and concluded that there was a chance that he wasn't going to come back. In fact, they grew so persuaded of this that they had Aaron build an idol so that they can worship something. I don't want to get into this right now, but one day we will. What I want you to see is Joshua waits all this time for Moses, the Israelites grew tired of waiting and built an idol and then, in Exodus 32:17 it says, 'When Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting he said to Moses, 'There is a sound of war in the camp'. Moses shot back, 'That's not the sound of victory or defeat, but singing that I hear.'

They go down, Moses drops the commandments and they break, a line is drawn in the sand of those who'll stand for God and those who won't, there is a mass execution and then Moses seeks the forgiveness of God for the people. Fast Forward...

In the next chapter we find Moses constructing a place which was called the 'Tent of Meeting'. It was a tent that was put a distance from the camp and whenever someone wanted to call on God they would go to this tent. Personally, the most exposing scripture that I have ever read about Joshua... the one scripture that has allowed me to looker deeper into the life of Joshua than any other verse that I've ever read can be found in Exodus 33. It reads like this...

"The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua, son of Nun, did not leave the tent." Exodus 33:11

What i see here is a beautiful picture of intimacy. I see a picture of faithfulness. I see a picture of humility and blessing and honor and commitment. I see a picture that i can learn from. I see a picture of who i want to be.

When everyone else had given up on Moses - Joshua stood strong. When everyone else had made a decision to look somewhere else for their spiritual direction - Joshua stood strong. When Moses would go to seek the face of God - Joshua would go. When Moses left - Joshua would stay. In him i see a picture of strength and valor and tenacity and faith. I see a picture of a person that i would be honored to emulate.

It is so easy to give up in our culture. It's so easy to find the next job or the next wife or the next house or the next position. It's so easy to find the "better deal" and to hop, skip and jump away. However, there are great things that come to the person who endures. There's a great blessing for the one who doesn't quit.

I have been through the fire in my life. I have had many ups and downs; many mountain top experiences and many valley times too. Most recently i remember feeling like the walls were closing in around me... feeling like i had tried hard to no avail... feeling like i was being wrongly persecuted for things that i had not even done. Those days were hard. And how did i get through them? Like Joshua - not letting go. I remember locking myself in a church sanctuary and beginning to pray with a darkness and heaviness on me. Praying even though nothing in my soul wanted to pray. Praying even though everything told me to give up and quit. Praying even though it didn't make sense. And I'd pray... and pray... and pray. Before long, the heaviness started to lift. Before long my prayers became stronger and a joy entered my soul. It was as if the clouds had parted and the sunshine shone brightly into my life.

And it was in that moment that God shared a beautiful concept with me. He encouraged me to 'give my best to what's before me'.

It sounds simple, but that statement changed my life. God worked miraculously in that season of my life, doing things that i never could've guessed. The hard days faded and i've entered into a beautiful season of blessing. However, i understand that a diamond is only formed from pressure and that God often allows immense pressure to form us into the people that He's destined us to be.

If you're going through a season of heartache or trial or trouble right now, i'd encourage you to press into God. You won't want to in the beginning. It'll be one of the hardest things that you've ever done. But understand that if you continue, the clouds will part... the sun will shine... and you will see the hand of God working in your life!

GP
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