Let God Stir Up Our Best Endeavor

Joshua 17:12-15 - Yet the Manassites were not able to occupy these towns, for the Canaanites were determined to live in that region.  However, when the Israelites grew stronger, they subjected the Canaanites to forced labor but did not drive them out completely. The people of Joseph said to Joshua, “Why have you given us only one allotment and one portion for an inheritance? We are a numerous people, and the Lord has blessed us abundantly.” “If you are so numerous,” Joshua answered, “and if the hill country of Ephraim is too small for you, go up into the forest and clear land for yourselves there in the land of the Perizzites and Rephaites.”

Joshu had allotted the choicest of lands to the tribe of Manesseh… and their numbers reflected God’s great blessings on this tribe of Israel. They grew so numerous that the land they were given was too small…so they asked for more. The only problem with this was that they had failed to completely claim all that God intended for them to have.

One group of Canaanites had been allowed to stay in their territory. At first it was because they were afraid to try and conquer them…but eventually they grew strong enough to force them into laboring for them. Another area of their territory was forested… there was lots of land if they would take the time to clear it.

I usually write in the morning. ‘Waking up with God’ was birthed from a deep need 3 years ago ….I felt to start my day out with God…so he could power me through any more hard stuff that he allowed in my life… that I felt was difficult.  BUT…lately…I have hit the snooze button so many times I barely get to whatever was scheduled that day on time…let alone take time to reflect and write blog post.

Today was no different.  I hit the snooze…barely made it to my substitute job on time…ran to my mom and dad’s house after work to help them out with a couple of things….ran straight to the quilting ministry that meets on Tuesday afternoons….then straight to a new home Bible study I wanted to try out. Before I could sit down and blog… I even had phone calls and texts to answer.

I’ve felt dispassionate about my blogging…about my morning time with God for a bit now.  I have prayed…searched…let myself fall into depression…search some more… make excuses… you get the picture. I knew I shouldn’t feel this way…but couldn’t quite find the answer to how to fix the problem.   It’s close to 10 pm now….but I have that old passionate feeling I used to have…when I first started blogging….that I was going to spend a bit of time with God before I went to bed.

One piece of the puzzle that changed my outlook was the commentaries I read last night.  David Guzik pointed out how the Israelites had become complacent.  They wanted the easy road…just give us more land they said. They had just as much power to defeat the Canaanites as they did to force them into labor. Matthew Henry added this thought…”If we belong to Christ – He will stir us up to our best endeavors.

It was a statement from the video from our Bible study that put all the thoughts together… convicting me and renewing the passion I knew I had lost… to spend time with God.  When I heard author and pastor Larry Osborne make the point…God worries more about our holiness than our happiness…it was as if the last piece of the puzzle I’ve been struggling to find was put in place. I need to remember my first love…so that fire he put inside me can fan back into a flame that can help him increase the kingdom…before it’s too late for all the lost souls still to be won over to the truth.

Father…thank you for the reminder that I belong to you….and you want to stir up within me the best.  Forgive me for letting the world water down my longing to visit with you each day.  Help me to stay fanned into flame…so your power will keep my faith and passion to learn as much as I can about you never wane with time.   Amen.