Just Do it!
Joshua 17:16-18
The people of Joseph said, “The hill country is not enough for us. Yet all the Canaanites who dwell in the plain have chariots of iron. …” Then Joshua said to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and Manasseh, “You are a numerous people and have great power … the hill country shall be yours, for though it is a forest, you shall clear it and possess it to its farthest borders. For you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have chariots of iron, and though they are strong.”
As I packed my bag to leave for work this morning, my courageous wife was busy leading our now fourth-grade son Micah in a grammar lesson on paragraphs, and, to my frustration, when I came down the stairs to say goodbye, Micah was throwing a fit, exacerbated by the fact that he’d read the definition of ‘paragraph’ too quickly and hadn’t understood it. When Megan calmly asked him to read the definition again slowly, with comprehension, he responded as if she’d just asked him to give a heart transplant to his little sister. Now, I didn’t respond as patiently as I could’ve at first, partly because I was late for work, and partly because Micah is fully capable of doing his own analysis, but my lecture in the end sobered and motivated him at the same time: “Micah, you have great ability. These fourth-grade assignments are easy for you when you put your mind to them. Mommy isn’t here to do your work for you. Stop throwing fits and just do the work to the best of your ability because you are more than capable!” With that, he smiled, apologized to Megan, and then—wonder of wonders—completed the work.
We don’t know whether Joshua issues this powerful lesson to Joseph’s descendants with a reprimanding tone or an encouraging one, but the essence is the same. Effectively, he challenges them: “Brothers, you have the power to turn these forests into pasture lands—but do you have the will?! You have the strength to drive out those iron chariots in the valley—but do you have the courage?!” Friend, if we’d spend less effort today complaining about the obstacles in our way and more effort just stepping forward by faith, think how many trails we’d blaze and how many lectures like these we’d avoid.