WHINERS...YEP....THAT IS WHAT THEY WERE

and so am I. My bible reading plan has me just finishing up Joshua. I couldn't help but notice a contrast between Joshua and Moses. When Moses was called out back in Exodus 3, he had every excuse possible why he shouldn't and couldn't be the one to deliver the people. Skip on over to Joshua and we see a different leader. Joshua seems to be a man of action. I read no whining by Joshua when he was called to be the leader. The Lord said do it and Joshua went at it. Full force. Right up until chapter 7, when Israel got their tails handed to them. Then we see a different Joshua. A tad bit of a dramatic Joshua. A whining Joshua. And Joshua said, "Alas, Lord God, why have You brought this people over the Jordan at all - to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? Oh, that we had been content, and dwelt on the other side of the Jordan!" Joshua 7: 7 (NKJV) He is ripping his clothes, throwing dirt on his head, lying on the ground....whining. Echoing the complaints of the generation before. And the Lord had heard enough. So the Lord said to Joshua: "Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face?" Joshua 7:11 (NKJV) Having kids, I can put my own inflection on those statements. I have said similar words to my own boys. I have been frustrated with them at times with their fits. I have been embarrassed by them. I get how He feels a little bit. These passages reminded me of several things. First, I am not alone in my pity parties. I am not the first to have them and I won't be the last. Second, the Lord gets tired of them. He gets to the point where He has heard enough of my whining and calls me to get up. Thirdly, even though He may be frustrated with me or embarrassed by the fit I throw, just like me with my boys, He always loves. In the very midst of my pity party He loves me. In His correction to get up, He loves me. Deliberately....