📅 Make the most of what you have – Daily Bible Reading

May 23, 2022

Today’s reading: Joshua 14:12

Make the most of what you have

We read in Joshua 17:17-18:

17 And Joshua spoke to the house of Joseph—to Ephraim and Manasseh—saying, “You are a great people and have great power; you shall not have only one lot, 18 but the mountain country shall be yours. Although it is wooded, you shall cut it down, and its farthest extent shall be yours; for you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots and are strong.”

We have here the two tribes branching from the Tribe of Joseph — Ephraim and Manasseh. They approached Joshua and presented their sentiments.

Their complaint? They received a “small” lot. They believed that since the tribe of Joseph is actually made of two sub-tribes, they should have a bigger lot. They call themselves “great people” to only be confined to one lot.

Now, that’s their complaint. But the truth is that they actually have enough land to go by. 

Since they call themselves a “great people,” Joshua said, “If you are a great people, then go up to the forest country and clear a place for yourself there in the land of the Perizzites and the giants, since the mountains of Ephraim are too confined for you” (Joshua 17:15).

The problem is that they don’t have the vision, will, and conviction to make the best out of what they have.

You see, the problem is not that they have too little land. Their problem is that they want easy land — a land that needs minimal effort to subdue, cultivate, and use!

They want a land that is served on a silver platter — no need to fight, no need to clear, and no need to work.

They want easy land.

The response of Joseph’s tribe showed us the real problem:

But the children of Joseph said, “The mountain country is not enough for us; and all the Canaanites who dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both those who are of Beth Shean and its towns and those who are of the Valley of Jezreel” (Joshua 17:16).

However, for Joshua, the solution is not to give them more land, but to make them realize the full potential of what they have already been given.

Sadly, sometimes, that is the same problem that we have.

We think that what God has given us is not enough. We wish we were taller. We live in a different house. We have a different sets of talents or skills. We want to have different parents and so on and so forth.

You see, you need to first start with what God has given you. When Yahweh created you, He has already infused in you the greatest potential to be His child. The problem is we don’t see, use, and nourish that potential. We thought that the only solution is for God to give us something different.

Well, the solution has always been in you. God has already equipped you with the right skills, talent, and resources. You just have to make the best out of what you have and with God’s grace and blessing, you will also receive the things you pray for.

The key here is to start with what you have.

Stop looking at what you don’t have to the point that you forget the power of God’s blessing in your life.

To learn more about waiting and patience, please read, “10 Little-Known Lessons From the Life of Caleb.”


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