Deuteronomy 3 Devotional

When God Says No

“Do not be afraid of them, for the LORD your God Himself will fight for you.””Deuteronomy 3:22 (BSB)

After victory over Og and his sixty fortified cities (3:3-5), Moses tells Joshua what those wins mean. The LORD will do the same to every kingdom ahead, because he himself fights for his people (3:21-22). Then Moses tells of a prayer that was not granted. He pleaded to cross the Jordan and see the good land, praising God's greatness as he asked (3:24-25). The LORD refused and told him not to raise the matter again (3:26).

That refusal is hard to read, and Moses does not hide it. Yet the no came with gifts. God sent him to the top of Pisgah to see the land with his own eyes, and gave him a task: to encourage and strengthen Joshua, who would lead the people in (3:27-28). God's answer to Moses was not indifference. It was a different calling. Moses would not finish the journey, but the work would go on, and so would God's promise. When God closes a door, he has not stopped being good, and he may be handing you someone else to strengthen.

To think about: Is there a prayer God has answered with no, and what task or person might he be setting in front of you instead?