Joshua 1:2-9 – 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. 3 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. 4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory. 5 No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. 6 Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

“A blind man walked into a bar. [pause] Then a table. Then a chair.” I’ve told you before, unlike Brother Tim, I’m not very good at telling jokes. But I have heard that if you ever want to mess with a blind person, just rearrange the furniture. I know…I know…But how many of you ever feel like following God’s plan in your life feels like stumbling over rearranged furniture?

Today, we are honoring graduates, and while this message is geared towards them as they seek the future God has planned, I hope the rest of us who have long since walked in their shoes can look back and see how God has been faithful even through life’s mistakes and disappointments.

You’ve heard the saying, hindsight is 20/20. For those of us who are older than these graduates, I want you to think back on your life. Does it look now like you thought it would when you were their age? Did you follow God perfectly every step of the way since you graduated? Did you ever not know where God was leading? Did you walk in obedience no matter what?

If you are in church today, there’s a good indication that you want to follow God. We all do. We tell God we will follow Him and desire to do so. But deep inside, if we’re honest, we either feel like we won’t be able to follow through when it comes down to it, or we just have no clue where He is leading…like we’re walking around blind…or we’re too comfortable with where we are right now to go any further with Him. So, often we decide we just won’t go. Not in a blatant, rebellious way. But in a subtle, idle way. I know you have been there, like me, because that’s the pattern of the saints throughout the entire narrative of the Bible.

We see Abraham trust God enough to move from the comforts of his homeland, yet stumble and fall when it came to waiting for God’s promise of a son. He jumped the gun by sleeping with his maidservant to try to speed up God’s plan. Still, God’s plan prevailed. We see Jonah run from God’s plan to preach to those at Nineveh and was swallowed by a big fish. After repenting, he finally obeyed God, and the people turned from their sins and were spared. We see Moses, Elijah, David, the disciples, and just about every other person mentioned in the Bible want to follow God, yet struggle at some point in living out the details of His plan. We are no different. We all want to follow God yet struggle at some point in living out the details of His plan. We can relate to their thoughts of not being good enough or feelings of being the only one on earth who se