Mourning and Sadness

Has someone ever stated the obvious to you? Kids are great at this, “You are wearing cowboy
boots!”. But there is always something behind what they are saying, like “I have a pair too”. You
just have to dig a little deeper for the meaning.
Joshua 1:1-2, After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spoke to
Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying: 2 “Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore,
arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them—the
children of Israel.
God tells Joshua “Moses is dead” stating the obvious, but what was He really saying? Joshua was
stuck in a mindset that God needed him to change. Moses was the greatest leader of the Israelites,
he was given the law and commandments, he was given great miracles and powers, and now he was
dead and Joshua had to follow in his footsteps; only God had something different for Joshua. God
wanted Joshua to be Joshua, not to be Moses. Joshua’s calling was unique to him.
In order for Joshua to go forth and do what God was calling him to do, he needed to stop grieving
over the past. Moses is in the past. God gave Israel a certain number of days to grieve. God had a
big work for Joshua to do. He needed Joshua’s head to be in the right place to be victorious.
At some time (He knows how long you need to mourn), God is going to tell you to stop mourning
your past. It is time to move on. If you never stop mourning, you will never move on.