Read
Go up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes westward and northward and southward and eastward, and look at it with your eyes, for you shall not go over this Jordan.
Deuteronomy 3:27
Reflect
Throughout my life, my family has raised horses. At one point, we had a young horse that my Dad wanted me to care for. I promised and promised, but I never worked with her, and my Dad eventually got tired of waiting. I really like horses, but I’ve never been one to want to raise one, so I mostly watched while other people worked with the animals. For my Dad, watching just wasn’t going to cut it. He didn’t need an extra horse eating feed and soiling its stall while receiving next to no attention, so he made arrangements to sell her.
I remember the morning the buyer showed up to pick up the horse. It finally dawned on me that we were losing her and that I wouldn’t have the chance to see her again. I cried, begged, and pleaded, but it was to no avail. The decision had been made—the horse was leaving. No matter how sincere I was in that moment, my earlier actions had already determined the outcome.
In reading today’s passage, we see that Moses did amazing things for God, yet he sinned in such a way that the Lord did not permit him to enter the Promised Land. (Read Book of Numbers 20:2-13 for the full account.) Moses acted in anger, failed to trust the Lord fully, and did not honor Him as holy before Israel. Near the end of his life, he pleaded with God to let him cross into the land he had pursued for forty years. But because the Lord is perfectly just, He upheld the consequence He had already declared. Moses would not cross the Jordan; he would only see the Promised Land from afar.
It may not seem fair at first, but sometimes when we sin, even genuine sorrow does not erase every consequence. Forgiveness is real, but certain outcomes still remain. The best we can do is ask forgiveness, learn from our mistakes, and seek not to repeat them. We can also accept our consequences with grace and maturity, showing both the Lord and those around us that our faith is deep enough to endure difficult moments.
The next time you do something that brings an outcome far heavier than you expected, it is right to pray that the Lord might spare you from the full weight of it. But if a painful consequence must still be endured, pray that He will sustain you with grace, teach you through it, and help ensure there is no repeat performance.
Reflection copyright © 2026 Doug DeBolt.
Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
