And We Have Lift Off

After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' aide: "Moses My servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites.

 

Joshua 1:1-2

 

 

A space shuttle launch is truly an amazing phenomenon that some have never even had the pleasure of seeing. There is a moment as the count down begins, that you stand there watching in awe and anticipation as the ground you are standing on begins to shake, almost holding your breath until your hear the words, "And we have lift off!"

 

In a matter of moments a massive amount of fuel powers the space shuttle in a vertical manner into the sky for as far as the eye can see. Soon the space shuttle drops its take-off boosters and uses additional boosters to move into the next stage of the mission. The first engines have a unique purpose... to get the rocket to the next stage.

Joshua was known for almost 40 years as "Joshua, servant of Moses." God's preparation for him required years of selfless service, training in the desert, and tests of faith. Those preparation years were booster rockets designed to move Joshua into each new stage of his development and his ultimate calling.

God allows each of us preparation times to lay a foundation that He plans to build on. Some of those foundation times appear to be laborious and meaningless, yet these varied experiences are what God is using to frame our lives for the message He plans to speak through us. Embrace these times of preparation actively as God leads. For they, too, are the rocket boosters to your next stage of what God has and is going to do through your life!