Dream Turned Dead End

Then Moses replied, “If you aren’t going with us, please don’t make us leave this place...”

Exodus 33:15 (CEV)

Where will you go? As graduation looms closer, it becomes a constant question.

Moses and the Israelites celebrated leaving slavery in Egypt to go to the land God had promised them—a safe place with plenty of food where they could own their own homes and live free.

But the Israelites disobeyed God on the way. They committed the ultimate betrayal of worshipping another god (a golden statue of a calf). God told Moses to go on without him. But even with amazing promises of good land, Moses didn’t want to go without God. He reminded God they were his people and that he had called Moses his friend.

God didn’t need the reminder, but perhaps Moses did. And the people needed to decide they wanted God more than anything else.

When it’s finally your turn to pick where you will live and what you do, maybe you’ll start planning to live out your biggest dreams. Or maybe you’ll have no idea what’s ahead. You’re going to have to decide for yourself which is better: your idea of what’s great, or God himself. Wherever the road leads you, being without God can turn even your biggest dreams into dead ends. But being with him can make the worst situations turn into the best experiences. Choose God first and let him show you!

SPIRITUAL FITNESS TRAINING

Making decisions can be difficult. Knowing what God wants you to do doesn’t have to be, though. Think through God’s plan with these questions:

• Am I willing to do whatever God asks?
• Have I prayed about it?
• What advice do my mentors give me?
• Where has God opened doors?
• Did God give me this desire?
• What Bible verses give me advice about this decision?

INSPIRATION

“You find that the things you let go of while following Jesus were the things that were going to destroy you in the end.”

—Francis Chan, American pastor and author in California

KEEP IT GOING

Related passages: These additional verses will help you expand Scriptural knowledge and place on the armor of God’s Word to tackle each day. Swipe to read the passages today.

Psalm 89:15

Psalm 139:3–5

Matthew 28:20

2 Thessalonians 1:9