So often I am a procrastinator. I find that out when a deadline approaches. Suddenly all these things that needed to get done are done in a flash! Why do I do that?! Joshua asked the people of Israel the same thing.
"There remained among the people of Israel seven tribes whose inheritance had not yet been apportioned. 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 give you?'" (ch.18:3)
How long will you "put off"? I love the fact he actually uses those words, put off. They had been given an inheritance. The land was subdued. There was nothing left to do but to move in! Too much work, perhaps? They were too comfortable perhaps? So interesting to think that blessing was waiting, but they didn't take it! I think they were tired from war. Ahhh....that I get.
I started to ask myself, "What am I not taking possession of? What blessing am I missing out on because of putting something off?" I think it is just a good reminder in general to not procrastinate actually. Not much simpler than that. I think the blessing is a result of what can happen when you do things when you know you should. A great example was this week when I was on my daughter for cleaning her room. I had asked her to do a more thorough cleaning, like under-the-bed type of cleaning for weeks. She put it off and put it off. Finally, I knew I had to get involved. She was too overwhelmed. So I began to help her. We went nuts on that room. Well, surprise, surprise...a missing library book showed up that had been lost for weeks. I loved that! But it would have been even better if we hadn't procrastinated and done the room when I first asked! Thus we paid overdue fines as a result and missed out on the blessing of no fines!!!!
Relating it to debt-reduction, I know I need to continue to keep track of our finances as closely as possible. I can't put that off at all this year, so I am asking the Lord for continued help to be careful with what we have.
Chapter 19:47 was another call to war and a great reminder to not give up the fight. "When the territory of the people of Dan was lost to them, the people of Dan went up and fought against Leshem, and after capturing it and striking it with the sword they took possession of it and settled in it..."
This verse reminded me of when we were building our house and coming to the end when all the financing was coming to a very critical point and we were scrambling. It was no easy task pulling that all together. I was very afraid at many points that it wasn't all going to come together as it needed to. I had just started learning the lessons on fear, but hadn't quite mastered it yet! RM and I were starting to feel like we should just give up and let the bank take over - it was too much it seemed. That's when my friend called, as if she knew what was going on. I explained to her what our situation was as she went into a story of how a very similar situation happened to them, but the moral of her story was they wouldn't go down without a fight. If they were going to lose their house, it wasn't before they did everything in their power to make things work. I will always remember that and it did turn out well in the end for them and for us, the bank didn't win. I kind of feel that is what this verse is saying. It seems at first the land given to Dan was "lost to them", but they didn't hang their tails between their legs and walk away. They "went up and fought against Leshem" and then they fought, "capturing it and and striking it with the sword". Sure enough, they won and took possession and settled in it. They wouldn't go down without a fight. A great reminder for us to do everything that we can, to not lose this fight. It might mean another battle of some kind which makes us feel very tired just thinking about it, but if we want to possess the land, what choice do we have?
Anyway, more encouragement from a tiny little book in the Bible. So full of truth and just what I needed to hear...again.
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