“I am now going the way of all the earth, and you know with all your heart and all your soul that none of the good promises the Lord your God made to you has failed. Everything was fulfilled for you; not one promise has failed. Since every good thing the Lord your God promised you has come about, so He will bring on you every bad thing until He has annihilated you from this good land the Lord your God has given you. If you break the covenant of the Lord your God, which He commanded you, and go and worship other gods, and bow down to them, the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and you will quickly disappear from this good land He has given you. (Joshua 23:14-16 — Holman Christian Standard Bible)
Joshua spoke these words to the nation of Israel after they had entered and possessed the land God promised them. Joshua had served God all his life and had been the leader of Israel for many years. He was near the end of his life, and told his people that God had fulfilled every promise He had given them — “You know with all your heart and all your soul that none of the good promises the Lord your God made to you has failed.” God had done everything He told them He would. Because Israel was seeking God and faithful to Him at this period of time, He had given them victory after victory, and blessing after blessing.
But Joshua also warns them about getting weak in their faith — if they turn away from God they will be cursed and lost. This is one of the fundamental truths of the Bible. If you seek God, and are sincere and obedient, you will be blessed, period. But if you turn away from God — the Giver of Life — all types of suffering and death await. Obviously there are, and have been, people who hate God and seem to have everything. In fact every time Forbes’ list of the richest people in the world comes out the people at the top as not known for their belief in God, but their seeming wealth is only temporary. Problems or tragedy could come along at any moment and wipe them out… they could have money but no love or peace.. not to speak of their eternal salvation.
If the promises of God are not coming true in your life at this moment, it’s a sign that something’s wrong. You may have drifted away from Him, or never known Him; other things might have become more important than God; you may be living for yourself, only concerned about what feels good and what’s comfortable; or maybe you’re caught in the same rut that everyone else in your family has lived in for generations. Your life can change, but God's promises only belong to those who choose to be children of God, to die to themselves, to go against the culture around them.
If you start doing this right now, long before your life on earth is over you will be able to join Joshua in saying: “Every good thing the Lord my God promised me has come about.”
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