There’s a certain poignancy at the end of Deuteronomy 3. The Lord had told Moses, “No promised land for you,” and that seemed to me to be the end of the story. But Deuteronomy 3 shows that Moses really wanted to enter the land, pleading with the Lord to let Him see it and walk in it and experience it. The Lord’s answer was a little harsh, “That’s enough out of you!” (I joked in Bible class recently that maybe it was a relief to Moses not to be responsible for Israel anymore, but his own words indicate that he really wanted to finish what he'd started with the Lord.)
There are all sorts of people who give themselves in a cause and don’t quite see it to conclusion: generals who win the war but not the peace; leaders who muscle through crises but don’t enjoy the success on the other side.
Here's an examples. I always kind of liked General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner. The things I read made him seem like a man who was pushing hard for the kind of changes that needed to be made for the corporation to succeed. When GM posted a profit for the first time in a long time, you could have argued that that happened because they went through a controversial bankruptcy. You could also have argued that the products that brought them back to profitability were in the works because of Wagoner’s leadership. Unfortunately, he was shown the door before his efforts bore fruit.
Or, here's a fictional example. At the end of The Lord of the Rings (the book, not the movie), Frodo, the hero, finds himself so deeply wounded by having carried the burden of the Ring that he can’t enjoy the peaceful resolution in the comfort of his newly freed and restored homeland. It falls to his friend and companion, Sam, to enjoy the results of their work.
Now, in Moses’ case, the poignancy is even greater for two reasons. First, he had been faithfully laboring for the Lord’s purposes for 40 years. It sure seems that one little mistake is all it took to cost him his shot at happiness. Second, he prays a prayer that is denied right then and there: “You will not cross over.” That’s hard.
Sometimes the reward has to be in the journey, not the arrival. Not every prayer is answered like we’d like. I wish I had the kind of faith that was content to follow the Lord without the longing to accomplish something, to enjoy His presence and His service without wondering when the blessing would come. It’s tough to be a goal-oriented guy with a process-oriented God.
I thought this was interesting.... the note in my study Bible says "In any event, Moses did appear in the promised land in the company of the transfigured Jesus (Mt 17:3)." Any thoughts?
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