Taking New Territory

So Joshua said to the people of Israel, 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? Joshua 18:3

The children of Israel, y’all. Those crazy people. You’d think after all God did for them, they’d trust Him completely, no matter what. Instead they just rebel and rebel and rebel over and over again. As soon as things get bad, they forget God exists and try to take things into their own hands.

In this verse, they’re procrastinating. Raise of hands for the procrastinators? (My hand is up really high right now.) They’re putting off going into the land that God has given them.

Why? Because they were content where there were.

Where were they exactly? They were wandering. They’d been wandering a loooooonnnng time, over 40 years. They didn’t have homes or permanent structures because they moved from place to place. But now, they had land! In fact, they’d been taking some of it already! They already conquered Jericho and many other cities and people. So why not go settle down into the new land?

If you’ve ever moved before, you know it can be scary. I just moved to a new town a few weeks ago, five hours away from where I lived before. I still can’t find my way around anywhere without Maps on my iPhone. It’s new and I feel lost a lot. Here there are supermarkets I’ve never heard of and the closest Michael’s is in another town!

It was scary to move here. To move away from home and all that I knew. Truly, I just had to trust God because I knew it was His will for me to move here.

It was God’s will for them to have and live in the land. Not to just conquer it and kill all the people and then move on. But it was theirs to have! It was great land, and God provided it just for them.

And yet… they didn’t want to go into it. Because they were content in their current situation.

How often does that happen to us? That we’re content where we are when God has something better for us? Don’t get me wrong, contentment is a good thing, but sometimes it’s so easy to be so okay with where we are that we think we don’t need anything else. But God has something greater for you.

It’s easy to become content in your walk with God. To be just fine with the amount you pray or read your Bible (or don’t). (My hand is up again because I’m totally guilty of this.) God wants to go deeper with you. He wants to know you more and wants to reveal more of Himself to you as well. Maybe he wants to take you further in your ministry, but if you are so content with where you are, you have no reason to move into what He has for you.

Maybe you’re scared of what He has for you. New territory is scary! Not knowing what to expect… scary! Even the Israelites, who had seen God’s miraculous works a million times (honestly a million is hardly an exaggeration), had trouble trusting in what He had in store for them. But thankfully, we serve a God who is completely, totally trustworthy, and who has greater plans for us than we even can think or imagine.

Application:

Are you content with where you are? In your walk with God? In your ministry? Maybe in your job or home or some other area of your life. Seek God and see if He has more for you. Be willing to step outside your comfort zone. Channel strength from the Holy Spirit and take a new step. Spend a little longer in prayer time, find a new Bible study, take on more responsibilities at church. See what God will do in your life and how He will bless you even more abundantly.