Remember what the LORD said.

Walking with God really is a lot easier than we often realize.  It starts with remembering what the LORD said.  We turn to the stories and instructions from the past because God tells us this is a part of His instruction to us, even, today.

"If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, 'Let us go after other gods,' which you have not known, 'and let us serve them,' you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him.”  (Deuteronomy 13:1-4 ESV)

Joshua and the Israelites knew this.  The instructions were given to them by Moses earlier in their own lifetime.  This was nothing new.  That’s why they were uncomfortable and asking questions of the Gibeonites as they were being deceived.  They felt uncomfortable because something wasn’t matching up with the Word of God.

The same is true today.  We find ourselves uncomfortable when something doesn’t match up with the Word of God.  We are uncomfortable, that is, when we know the Word of God.  Sometimes, God will allow people to come into our lives who try to deceive us.  That is God’s way of testing us to see if we were listening to God’s previous instructions.  Joshua had listened to God.  So had Caleb.  They were they only two of the twelve original spies who did.

Then the people of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, "You know what the LORD said to Moses the man of God in Kadesh-barnea concerning you and me. I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought him word again as it was in my heart. But my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholly followed the LORD my God. And Moses swore on that day, saying, 'Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholly followed the LORD my God.' (Joshua 14:6-9 ESV)

Joshua and Caleb trusted God at His Word.  How about you?  Do you take the time to learn what God has instructed in the past?  When you hear someone trying to lead you in a different direction, do you find yourself uncomfortable?  Do you remember what the LORD said?