In this Lenten season, I'm reminded of the choice that Moses made when after the Exodus, he led the Hebrew children to the promised land. Had he taken them on the direct path, through the land of the "giants" (Gath?) it would have taken a mere 11 days. Because of lack of faith, and many other wrong choices, but primarily lack of faith, the journey took an extraordinary 40 years to complete. And Moses himself, while he could see the promised land, was not allowed enter into it. Now a journey of 11 days vs. 40 years seems like a no brain-er. But let's look at this from their point of view. See, David taught us that God would deliver the giant into our hands if we believed. Moses did not have that knowledge. He also did not have the faith to lead his people through that way.

How many of us spend 40 years going what we could have done in 11 days but were too fearful to face it head on, I know I've taken the long way around a few times. Peter and Andrew were fishing all day, but didn't catch a thing. Jesus told them to cast the net one more time, and even though they doubted, they did as he suggested, and so great was their catch that James and John had to come over and help them haul it in. They didn't have much faith in Jesus, but just enough to do as he told them. That was all it took. I used to wonder why it worked when Jesus had them do it when it hadn't before. Then I realized, Jesus told the fish to go into the net. Those dumb old fish never doubted Jesus at all, just hopped right in the net. I wish I had that kind of faith. I, like Moses, see the impossible. Joshua and Caleb saw the possible, and they were the only ones of their generation to walk into the promised land. We really can do all sorts of things when we see the possible instead of the impossible. maybe I need new glasses!