Today I just finished reading about all the battles in the book of Joshua. In short the story goes: there were 12 tribes in Israel. God leads them out through a guy named Moses. Moses is to lead them into the promised land, which would be super duper awesome. Moses sends spies into this promised land, and although they see how super duper awesome it is, they say 'It might be great, but we could never overtake those people'. Two spies say 'No, with God on our side we can.' (The names of these spies are Caleb and Joshua.) God decides since that generation doesn't have faith that they'll take a walk in the desert for the next 40 years until all but Caleb and Joshua drop dead. Moses dies, Joshua takes over as leader. Joshua then leads the people into the promised land and by the Lord's command in every town they defeat, they burn it to the ground. Nothing is to remain.
Now I'm not a military specialist, but this seems like an over the top plan to me. Sure, maybe it would be great to not leave any of our enemies living. Then they can't attack us. That makes sense. But burn the entire town to the ground? Isn't this excessive? Those were perfectly good towns Lord! But with every town they burned to the ground, never to be rebuilt again, they were displaying a trust in the Lord. A trust that says "I know that what I see is good, but I know in this act of obedience You will bless me with what is better." The Israelites had to trust that the Lord would provide them with better cities before they chose to burn down the cities they captured of their enemies. We often have to make a similar choice.
This choice might have to do with sin in our lives. James 1:14-15 says "But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and enticed. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin when it is fully grown, gives birth to death." Sin is appealing. It is something we desire. But sin leads to a separation with a Holy God. And He gave us the Law through Moses to show us what holiness is so we can live in better relationship with this Holy God by following the Law. We ultimately couldn't do that so Jesus was sent to cure that eternal separation problem. Yet sin still separates us from the Lord today. Now what God tells us to do with sin is no different than what He told Joshua to do with those enemy towns: "Destroy everything. I don't want any traces left of what will separate me and you." And we, as believers, need to trust that God is better and His plan for us is better than that sin in our lives for us to overcome it.
This similar choice also might have to do with good things in our lives. Yes, God is the giver of good gifts. But He also calls anyone who wants to be a Christian to "deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." We're called into a life of denial. I often hear among the LGBT community in particular, "If I was made with these desires, how can it be wrong?" or "Isn't love a good thing?" But the thing is that it's not just them (although Christians often like to target them), but we all have desires that we are called to deny. I serve as a missionary. Recently I've been thinking about whether that will be a long-term position for me or not. As I think about that it's hard not to think about the ways the Lord has called me to deny myself of good things. Like if I stay on the field long-term, I am most likely giving up a husband and consequently kids. Yes, I would love a family of my own some day, but know that the odds of getting that while working in another country is slim. And to stay here long term, that's a denial I'll need to be okay with. (Whether I am or not is another story that I haven't quite figured out yet.) I also am denying myself a dependable income from a "real" job, even though that's a good thing. Denial of good things is sometimes necessary to be closer to the Great Thing (that is God). Don't assume that just because something is good that God wouldn't call you to give it up.
Going into the subject of denial, I want to talk about a group that the Lord seemed to really deny as they went into the promised land. They were called the Levites. The Levites were the people set aside to be the priests of God. Something that Moses continually reminded the Levites before they entered was that they got no land to claim as their own. Instead as all of their brothers and fellow Israelites got land, the Lord just told them "You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any share among them; I am your share an your inheritance among the Israelites." (Numbers 18:20) And this phrase appears over and over. God's constantly reminding them, as people who serve Me, I will give you nothing but Me! I'm sure some of them probably felt ripped off. I mean how could God give them no land? What's the deal? But again they must trust that God is better than the land would be.
Again as I think about the potential of life long-term in the mission field, being a missionary is much like being a Levite. I rely on a team of supporters; I don't have a way to support myself. I am not building for myself a home, because as a missionary I live pretty simply. And because as someone God has called away, you never know when the call to leave will be. With people coming and going all the time, there seems to be a lack of permanence no matter how long you're there. But in this Levite-like existence, it's somehow easier to see God. There's less distractions on my time and attention. He's more at work as I seek to actively serve Him. And I'm reminded of just how good it is to be with the Lord, closely communing with Him. But the choice is always: Is He better than....?
The entirety of our lives is made up of choices. You made the choice to read this blog. You chose what to eat to day. You may not think you have much say, but you have some choice in where you live (even if its with your parents, you could have chose the park bench). And what God asks all of us is will you turn to Me in those choices? This will often look like giving things up, but will you decide I'm worth it? And I challenge you to ask yourself what the Lord might be calling you to give up to gain that better reward of His closeness.
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