I remember when the movie “Speed” came out.  It was the one of those movies that I think set the tone for what action movies needed to be like from then on… 90% action, 10% everything else.  Now, I don’t think that is what makes a great movie, but Speed was the first movie I remember seeing like that.  The premise of the movie was that a mentally unstable man had planted a bomb on a bus, that if it went under 60 mph would explode… so you can imagine the action that pursued.  It was one obstacle after another.  Even after the stars got off the bus, they had more obstacles to overcome… the action seemed to never end, which was great for the viewers!  But I remember thinking at one point in that movie… “Really… another roadblock… another danger… another obstacle.  When will it end for these poor people!”

I’m reading through the book of Joshua right now, and I got to chapter 11.  After multiple conquests in the land of Canaan, Joshua now faced an allied army in the North that is described as “a horde as numerous as the sands on the sea.”  I can imagine Joshua thinking… “Really God… c’mon… give us a break!”  As I pondered this, it hit me… life can be alot like Joshua’s conquest… it’s alot like Speed.  Once we overcome one obstacle… there stands another.  Once we reach one goal, there stands another deficiency staring us in the face.  It almost seems that it never ends.  How did Joshua deal with it?  Just when discouragement may have been setting in… God’s promise came.  ”“And the Lord said to them, ‘Do not be afraid of them, for tomorrow at this time I will give over all of them, slain, to Israel. You shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire.’”  God’s promise brings comfort in the midst of constant onslaught… it brings confidence in the face of overwhelming circumstances and odds… It gives peace as we move forward into obedience.

When I was a kid, we always used to sing an old hymn called, “Standing on the Promises.”  How true that song rings when life throws it blows… we have to stand on His promises… we have to claim them and then… press on.  God, thank You for Your promises.  Thank You for being completely able and faithful to keep them!  May we move on in light of them!