A man born a slave has no idea, he has a destiny of leading a nation into become a world super power. For hundreds of years, a nation hoped for the promise of God to come. That promise was called “the promise land.” A young man named Joshua has become the assistant to the legend in Moses. Joshua has been a slave his whole life, until one year when a man named Moses led him and his whole nation to freedom. Joshua saw God send plagues to bring the greatest nation to its knees. He saw the Red Sea part and then crash on the greatest army. He saw food appear out of nowhere every day.
Joshua later leads Israel into the promise land and conquers the people living in the land decisively. He actually conquers 31 kings in 31 days. Amazing. I think all of us would love even a taste of that kind of success and leadership.
So I want to spend the next couple weeks talking with you about what Joshua did that set him up to make such a huge difference.
Exodus 33:7 It was Moses’ practice to take the Tent of Meeting and set it up some distance from the camp. Everyone who wanted to make a request of the Lord would go to the Tent of Meeting outside the camp.
8 Whenever Moses went out to the Tent of Meeting, all the people would get up and stand in the entrances of their own tents. They would all watch Moses until he disappeared inside.
11 Inside the Tent of Meeting, the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Afterward Moses would return to the camp, but the young man who assisted him, Joshua son of Nun, would remain behind in the Tent of Meeting.
The first thing I take away from Joshua is…
Joshua separated from the crowd.
Joshua knew God’s power and knew Moses knew God differently from the rest of Israel. Joshua wanted something different and knew he had to live different. His lifestyle was different. We all know going with the crowd is easy, especially when it comes to God. When you live different, you stand out and people notice. This different make them naturally uncomfortable, which is why most people just go with the crowd. They are afraid of being different. Joshua wanted to know the God who purchased his freedom and would live a lifestyle that invited God into who he became.
Joshua had different relationships. Joshua spent his time with Moses, Caleb, and Aaron. He did not spend his time with the complainers called Israel. It is amazing how quickly being around a complainer that their negativity rubs off. Studies show we are the average of our 5 closest relationships. So all of us should choose wisely.
Lastly, Joshua separated from the crowd by living by different standards. I will talk about this more in weeks to come, but the standards how what he ate, drank, talked about, spent time doing, were not normal.
To change the world that we live in we have to first separate from the crowd. Side note… if you have to remind someone you are separated from the crowd, you are not separate from the crowd.
So what do you need to do this week to separate from the crowd?
Live a Better Story
Brandon Sereg
