Only a distant mountain view

Deuteronomy 34:1-6 NKJV

Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is across from Jericho. And the LORD showed him all the land of Gilead as far as Dan, [2] all Naphtali and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, [3] the South, and the plain of the Valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. [4] Then the LORD said to him, "This is the land of which I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, 'I will give it to your descendants.' I have caused you to see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there." [5] So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. [6] And He buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth Peor; but no one knows his grave to this day.

Imagine the disappointment of Moses as he looked into the Promised Land from Mount Nebo.

Many emotions must have welled up in his heart. I bet he wished he hadn't lost his temper with the people and in anger struck the rock twice.

God had told him to speak to it only, but his rage overwhelmed him and took control!

Numbers 20:7-8,11-12 NKJV

Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, [8] "Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals." [11] Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank. [12] Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them."

How often do our fallen natures rob us of the Lord's perfect will in our lives?

If it could happen to Moses, it can happen to little ol' me too.

When God gives us a mountain view of what could have and should have been - it's a sobering experience.

Yet the Lord, in His over-arching wisdom and foreknowledge, tells Moses that His Will and Promise is still going to be fulfilled, even if not through him.

God will never be thwarted by our failures. It will just be a substitute that carries out His plans.