March 15- Joshua 16-18: Inheritance

If I let myself go there, I could get lost in commentaries about these chapters.  I have a lot of questions with no clear answers.  Like, why did God elevate the story of Zelophehad's daughters by including it three times in the Bible (Numbers 27:1-7; 36:1-12; Joshua 17:3-4)?  Why was the tribe of Manasseh never able to take over the Canaanites in some towns (17:12-13)?  Why didn't  the tribe of Ephraim remove the Canaanites from their towns (16:10)?  How did Joshua keep from playing favorites with his own tribe of Ephraim?  And why did the rest of the tribes procrastinate or wait to receive their inheritance (18:2)?  I did find many thoughts about these questions, but they still didn't get to the heart of the matter for me.

The words that seem significant to me are inheritance, boundary, lot, portion.  In God's sovereignty, He was setting the places for these tribes to settle in the Promised Land.  Different terrains, different enemies to take out, different skills and labor needed to make each inherited lot livable and productive. But, each territory selected and given by God.   (Or in the Levites case, withheld by God for a greater purpose.)

"Different" is something I do experience.  My friends and family are all different in many ways.  We each have different abilities, strengths and weaknesses.  Different personalities, work and income levels.  Different callings, visions, and convictions.  Different number and genders of children.  Different educations, experiences, and priorities.  Most of the time, I enjoy these differences.  But there are plenty of times when I view these differences with eyes of envy and feelings of entitlement.

So, in these differences do I look for God to make it all equitable (at least in my eyes)?  Do I expect Him to even the playing field so that I can experience the same kinds of blessings as those around me?  Or, do I lean into God's sovereignty knowing that,

You, O Lord, are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot.  The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places.  Yes, I have a good inheritance.  Psalm 16:5-6, NKJV

I wish I could say that I lean into this verse, but I feel like I identify with the Israelites in many ways - comparing and grumbling in my spirit that so-and-so got a bigger portion or a better lot.  And I need to call it what it is - blaspheming the sovereign God who gave me this life, this lot, these boundaries.   Father, help me not to miss that my true inheritance is not what I have, but Who.

God's Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are.  We know who he is and we know who we are:  Father and children.  And we know we are going to get what's coming to us -- an unbelievable inheritance!  We go through exactly what Christ goes through.  If we go through the hard times with him, then we're certainly going to go through the good times with him!  Romans 8:15-16, Msg