With five tribes having received their allotment of land and seven remaining, Joshua makes it clear that the leaders of Israel haven’t pursued God’s promise as assertively as they should have. “How long will you put off going in to take possession of the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you?” He sets up a plan for them to scope out the remaining land, divide it among them, and finish the job.
I have a confession to make. I’m a lot like the Israelites. I have grand plans (sometimes inspired by God, but sometimes of my own design) and I start out with vigor. But somewhere between exciting adventure and everyday life, I lose steam. I give up. I get bored. I see something else shiny and new and pursue that instead. My garage is full of materials for half-baked projects I chose not to finish and tools that I expect I’ll need if I ever get back to some project or another. The fact that I ever finished writing a novel (and now three more!) is proof that God must have been nudging me along, because on my own I’d have continued to have multiple unfinished books teasing me from the computer screen.
When God calls us to something, He is the one who enables us to do it. Our role is just to be faithful to do what He says and trust His timetable.
What has God called you to do that you’ve given up on? Pray for God to show you if you’ve sat down before you reached the finish line. And if you have, pray that He would give you the energy to get up, reassess the work that remains, and get back to the battle. If it’s a God-calling, then it’s a skirmish in God’s campaign to win the lost. The war can’t be won unless you and I take the ground God has allotted to us.
I have a confession to make. I’m a lot like the Israelites. I have grand plans (sometimes inspired by God, but sometimes of my own design) and I start out with vigor. But somewhere between exciting adventure and everyday life, I lose steam. I give up. I get bored. I see something else shiny and new and pursue that instead. My garage is full of materials for half-baked projects I chose not to finish and tools that I expect I’ll need if I ever get back to some project or another. The fact that I ever finished writing a novel (and now three more!) is proof that God must have been nudging me along, because on my own I’d have continued to have multiple unfinished books teasing me from the computer screen.
When God calls us to something, He is the one who enables us to do it. Our role is just to be faithful to do what He says and trust His timetable.
What has God called you to do that you’ve given up on? Pray for God to show you if you’ve sat down before you reached the finish line. And if you have, pray that He would give you the energy to get up, reassess the work that remains, and get back to the battle. If it’s a God-calling, then it’s a skirmish in God’s campaign to win the lost. The war can’t be won unless you and I take the ground God has allotted to us.
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