Numbers 32:1-5 – “Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of livestock; and when they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, that indeed the region was a place for livestock, 2 the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spoke to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the leaders of the congregation, saying, 3 “Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Shebam, Nebo, and Beon, 4 the country which the LORD defeated before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.” 5 Therefore they said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Do not take us over the Jordan.”  NKJV

The Reubenites were the kind of people who really did not want to cross the Jordan.  The reason for coming out of Egypt was to cross the Jordan and go into Canaan, the Place of Promise.  There was a very large contingent coming out of Egypt. 

They were blood-bought, baptized in the Red Sea and now after wandering in the Wilderness for forty years and on the brink of breakthrough they said, “Don’t make us cross the Jordan, we want to stay where we are.”  In a very real sense, they were saying, “What we have become fits very nicely into what we have already possessed, and we don’t want any more.”  It is easy to sit in church and say: “What we have become fits nicely into what we have already possessed.  We have ‘x’ number of herds and flocks, and it fits nicely, so we are satisfied.”

Let me take you back a bit to the Lion King Movie where Mufasa the King said to Simba from the clouds, “You Are More Than What You Have Become.”  It is easy to get in a state of mind where what we see fits into what we are able to accommodate, and we do not want to move.  It is saying, “Don’t Make Us Go Over the Jordan.”  But if we grasp the Word of God, we realize that we Are more than what we have become, and God is not finished molding us yet.  We need to remember Who we are and Whose we are and realize that we truly Are more than what we have become. 

Let me caution you and state this was not about Reuben stealing Glory from God. It was about Reuben stealing the Glory of Jacob.  It was about Reuben wanting a Glory that was not his to have.  We find that in the local church.  It is not about someone wanting the Pastor’s job or the Elder’s job.  It is about, “What’s in it for me?”  It is about Recognition and Comfort.  Believers, we are not here for what is in it for us, we are in it for what is in it for Him!

Reuben wants to experience something beyond his measure.  You will never be happier than when you abide in the measure God has granted you.  If your measure is to have no authority, no leadership, no responsibility in the House you will be far happier if you abide there than if you press into a measure, you have not been called to receive.  Remember the disciples in the boat had ‘heard the word’ and as a result, they got blisters on their hands struggling against the waves and the wind but they had heard God.  It was as they persisted in What they heard that He came to them in the night and brought victory. 

If you observe the weather, you will not launch out into the deep. Anybody can run in good weather.  The only way you launch out into the unknown is by knowing that you know that you know that God has directed your steps.  Don’t quit!  Do you understand why you get turbulence where two rivers run together?  That is the place where the vision and intent of River ‘A’ and River ‘B’ come together.  If you are not careful in life you will get DI-VISION not VISION. Turbulence can create DI-VISION but out of that confluence where the two become one there is quiet power. 

We need to be willing to Cross over into the Place of Promise taking with us that which we have learned in deliverance from bondage, baptism in our Red Sea, learning in the wilderness, and enter into the Place of Promise and Possess the Land.  God gives a Warning, sends His Word, and prepares the Way.  Will we be people who are Obedient and then eat the good of the land?

God, bless you richly as you enjoy this day in Him!