YES!!!

Joshua 15; Psalm 86; Proverbs 13:9-10

 

How much does a car mean to an American sixteen year old? How much does a new job mean to an American husband and father who has been without work? How much does a sparkly diamond ring mean to an American girlfriend, or even more, a wedding day to an American fiancée?  How much does an apartment mean to a refugee?

 

Joshua 15 doesn’t sound all that exciting to us. It’s not the “good stuff” to us. We like the battles, the wars, the stories of heroic courage.

 

But the Israelites who went through those battles and wars probably enjoyed them a lot less. Sure, they liked making it through the battles unscathed. But that didn’t always happen. Fathers, brothers, uncles and cousins still died sometimes. What is “good stuff” to us was pain and hardship to them.

 

And what we consider pain and hardship—trying to read through Joshua 15-21—was “good stuff” for them. After being slaves, after watching parents and grandparents die in the desert for forty years, after fighting battle after battle, each tribe finally got to rest, and the first tribe we read about is Judah: These are the boundaries around the people of Judah by their clans. – Joshua 15:12b

 

These chapters—these seemingly endless, descriptive, boring chapters—are where the real excitement is! God had fulfilled His promises! He had brought His people home! And now they could live in their own land, in their own homes.

 

Father, as I walk day by day through this life, uncertain where my next step will bring me, life is uncertain. It is certainly interesting. I never know what to expect. But that’s not always a good thing. The reserves of my faith are taxed over and over, and all I really want is to be at home, resting with You. THAT will be good times. THAT will be exciting. THAT will be meaningful. And there’s not a thing I can do to make that happen any faster. So give me faith to be faithful and to follow wholeheartedly wherever You lead me while I wait for this rest and this home that You have promised me. Give me joy in knowing that life will not end in battles and sorrow so that I can walk through the battles and sorrows I face for now. Thank You that You are leading me home!