Give Me This Mountain

Eighty-five year-old Caleb went with a group from Judah to speak with Joshua about their inheritance in Canaan. Caleb reminded Joshua that he was one of the two men who stood in faith when the other ten men gave a bad report about the Promised Land.

“Moses promised,” said Caleb, “that the land where my feet walked upon would be my inheritance and my children’s forever because I wholly followed the Lord.”

Caleb then added, “Now therefore, give me this mountain which the Lord promised me.”

Joshua responded by giving Hebron to Caleb.

Hebron is a historic site where the Tomb of the Patriarchs is located. In this tomb, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebekah, and Leah are supposedly buried. Today, it is a revered city for Muslims, Jews, and Christians alike.

But what did Caleb do with Hebron?

After he had conquered and defeated the Canaanites, Caleb gave the city of Hebron to the Levites.

So, Caleb received the desire of his heart, only to give it back to the Lord a few months later. What’s with this?

I have always admired Joseph Farah and WND.com. It’s my opinion that WND is the most accurate source of news and has the best commentary on the internet or anywhere else. The best! Their columnists include Farah, Chuck Norris, Dr. Michael Brown, Ann Coulter, Patrick Buchanan, Walt Williams, Barry Farber, Ilana Mercer, Larry Elder, Greg Laurie, Patrice Lewis, and countless others.

Last May, I read a column by Patrice Lewis. She revealed how she was an unknown writer who just had a publishing deal fall to pieces, but still sent a couple of guest columns to WND. Her guest columns resulted in her being asked to write a weekly column for WND.

After reading Patrice’s column, I felt the Lord say to my heart: “You will be a columnist for WND.”

Let me get real with you, okay?

My 1,618 posts on my blog have averaged a little over fifty viewers per entry. Not much! My thirteen published books on Amazon have sold well enough to maybe allow Carol and me to stay in San Diego at a cut-rate motel for one night, take in a movie, and eat a couple of meals at some fast-food restaurants before scampering back to Temecula.

Do you get the point? I am a plodding, prolific writer without a following or an audience.

Yet, God made it happen for me. How?

I had written an article and sent it to WND for consideration to be a guest column for them. They did not accept it. I was, of course, disappointed, but I rewrote it and added a hundred or so words to its length and posted it on my blog.

On November 25, 2017, I was spending time in prayer and felt the Lord wanted me to send an email to Joseph Farah, telling him about the guest column I had sent to his editors with a link to the rewritten version on my Larry Who blog. I did that.

An hour later, Farah responded by saying that he enjoyed the article and would run it on WND.

Two hours after this, Farah asked me to be a weekly columnist for WND.

Was I shocked?

I dropped to my knees and wept so hard that Carol ran into my office. We then both wept at the greatness of our God and how He could make something out of nothing and even use an unknown like me.

My first column appeared on WND on December 1, 2017.

While praying last week, I felt the Lord wanted me give up my writing a column for WND so I could spend more time completing my two unfinished novels and some other things He has asked me to do.

Last week’s column, my twenty-sixth one, was my last one for WND. I loved writing for them. They are the best!

So, why would God give me the desire of my heart and then ask me to give it up a few months later?

Our God is an over-the-top loving Father who desires to give His children what they long for, even though He has other plans in mind. He is El Shaddai, the God who is more than enough…not just enough, but more, more and more than enough.

My advice to everyone who reads this column: ask for your mountain.