And it came to pass at the end of four years that the Lord came again unto the brother of Jared, and stood in a cloud and talked with him. And for the space of three hours did the Lord talk with the brother of Jared, and chastened him because he remembered not to call upon the name of the Lord.
I am confident that a spiritual man like the brother of Jared would not have stopped praying for four years. I think what he had neglected to do was to ask the Lord for additional direction. He and the rest of the troop were perhaps satisfied with the good life they had on the beach. They had arrived at what to them was obviously the end of their journey on the shore of an un-cross-able ocean. With no place left to go, the easy conclusion was that they were in their promised land.
For four years they relaxed and enjoyed life. Yet something must have stirred the prophet to finally approach the Lord with a question. With the door of inquiry finally open, God took the opportunity to teach the brother of Jared about the mistake he had made.
The message to us is to not make assumptions about the Lord's will for us based on observable circumstances. God's plans for us almost always far exceed our own expectations. We ought not to limit his power in our lives by our own shortsightedness.
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