R.T. Kendall and Joshua Agree: ‘We Haven’t Been This Way Before’

The phrase “new normal” has almost become colloquial.

Most of us have arrived at this conclusion escorted by Captain Obvious.

Like the suit I wore at my wedding in 1973, I don’t expect to walk that way again. I believe we all sense that many things have changed and will continue to change.

R.T. Kendall’s newest book is rich with an explanation of why we must change our ways.

“I’ve been thinking about Joshua’s word to the children of Israel,” Kendall said. “They were preparing to enter Canaan, the promised land. Then God spoke through Joshua to say, ‘You’ve never been this way before.'”

“Those words gripped me. I thought, how sweet of the Lord to talk like that. And yet, it’s so scary. Let’s just know that God knows where we’ve been. He knows where we’re going. And He’s with us. It was just such a comforting word. Then I realized this is where we are in America, where we are right now, even as we speak today. We’ve never been this way before. People are still saying, when’s the next one? We’ve got to have normality again. And I honestly fear that the new normal is that nothing will be normal again,” Kendall said.

I interviewed Dr. Kendall on the Greenelines podcast about his book We’ve Never Been This Way Before. He told me about the power of the message and the ease with which the book flowed through him.

“I was not prepared for how well it went, how easy it was to write,” Kendall said. “I hadn’t even thought about a book. I was just thinking about Joshua’s word. After three weeks, the book was finished. Mind you, it is not the longest book I’ve ever written. Most of my books have 50,000 words, maybe 60,000. This one had only 31,000.”

I asked Dr. Kendall to shed some light about why God is allowing the COVID-19 virus to have such a stranglehold on the world.

“There are some things God does not want us to have all the answers to,” he said. “Let me give an example: Moses saw the burning bush, and the bush didn’t burn up. And the fire just kept going, and the bush didn’t burn up.

“And Moses said I’m gonna find out what’s going on here. And he rushed to the bush and God said, ‘Stop, stop. Don’t come any farther. Don’t come any closer. Take off your shoes. You are on holy ground.’ Moses wanted to figure out how a bush could be on fire and not burn up. And God says, ‘You’re not to know why. So, I apply this to things in life. And I would say the difference between what God has predestined and what He has permitted is holy ground. There are things that we’re not supposed to figure out—we’re to take off our shoes and worship and be content not to know everything,” Kendall said.

We need to pray that our new normal will please God. To become more like Him, we must put off our old ways and pray for a fresh awakening. {eoa}