Joshua 18:1-10 "This is your lot in life"

Joshua 18:1-10

“This is your lot in life”

“This is your lot in life”

I am sure we have all heard of this saying, “this is your lot in life”

Perhaps our parents at one point have said that to us, “this is your lot in life”

What does it mean?

It means this.

There are many things in your life which you didn’t choose for yourself.

Like you didn’t chose when you were going to be born

You didn’t choose where you were going to be born

You didn’t choose who your parents are

You didn’t choose your brother or sister

You probably didn’t choose what house you grew up in

You probably didn’t choose which school you went to

You didn’t choose to fall sick

You didn’t choose for your friend to die

You didn’t chose for a particular government to rule over you

As much as this world tries to convince us, that we are in control……and that we can live in Zootopia, where you can be whoever you want to be, the reality is, there are many, many things in our lives that we simply cannot control, and many things we wouldn’t choose for our lives, but they are in our lives anyway…….as some would say, “this is just your lot in life”.

These are the boundaries that are in place for you, whether you like it or not.

As many of you may or may not know, we are subdividing the land at Wingham, in order to try and generate a regular income which can help grow and expand the ministry at Wingham, Krambach and Old Bar.

Back in 2022, we applied to the mid north council to subdivide the land into 10 lots, as you can see on the map. This would allow us to maximise the land.

Unfortunately, council rejected our DA for 10 lots, why?

Because it would have created too much extra traffic- Wingham would have been swamped with an extra 10 cars.

Also, too many trees would have to be cut down, and so the poor little animals would have no place to rest their heads.

And so we applied to subdivide the land into 5 lots, (as you can see on the map).

Praise God, these 5 lots were approved by council and we are close to having the first two lots ready for sale. We would have preferred 10 lots, but we were given 5 lots by mid coast council, these literally, were the lots we were given.

As we come to Joshua chapter 18 today, it can seem at first glance, like quite a mundane passage.

It is all about the Israelites receiving their lots of land.

It’s about surveying the land, drawing maps, and dividing out the lots to each tribe of Israel.

Believe me, surveys, dealing with council, looking at electrical, sewer and water designs, is not that exciting.

By the time we get to this chapter in the book of Joshua, there are only 7 tribes of Israel that haven’t settled in a part of the promised land. There are only 7 tribes who haven’t receive their lots of land to live.

The tribes of Gad, Rueben and half the tribe of Manasseh had already settled on the east side of the Jordan river, Judah had settled in the south, Joseph had settled in the north and the Levites were given the priestly ministry as their lot.

And so Joshua, after giving these remaining seven tribes, a bit of a “hurry up”, he commanded each of these last 7 tribes, Benjamin, Simeon, Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Dan, to take 3 men from each tribe, that’s 21 men altogether, to go and survey the land, mark it out into 7 sections and then return to him.

They would mark off the boundaries for each lot of land, big tree in the corner, big rock in the other corner, sea runs along this boundary, and so on…..

These 21 men, then went back to Joshua with the map and the 7 lots, and then Joshua cast lots (not land lots, but perhaps stones) lots for each tribe. Perhaps the stones went into a big bag and a stone was picked for each lot. We don ‘t know exactly how it was done, we just know that lots were cast.

Lot 1- goes to Benjamin

Lot 2- the one with the view of the sea, goes to Simeon

Lot 3, the one with the very fertile soil, goes to Zebulun…..and so on.

Now, this process of picking the lots for each tribe was a simple but fair process.

First of all, all 7 tribes were involved in drawing up the map and splitting the land into seven sections, and so all 7 tribes agreed on where the boundaries would be.

One tribe couldn’t accuse another of being a “little loose” with their maps.

And because there were 3 men from each tribe, there was perhaps less chance of the tribes making a secret deal between them all. There was less chance they could mark off a secret section for themselves by the sea.

All 7 tribes knew exactly what each lot looked like, and what each lot had to offer.

Secondly, the process was done in a central location, in Shiloh, right in the geographical centre of Israel and more importantly, it was done in front of all the people of Isreal.

There was no secret ballet, no shady deals under the table, the lots were drawn in front of all the people, it was fair.

But finally, and most importantly this process was done before the Lord.

The tabernacle (or the tent of meeting as it is described in verse 1) that the Israelites had carried around the desert, was set up in Shiloh. And remember it was at the tabernacle where the very presence of God dwelt with his people.

And so when Joshua cast those lots that day, it was done before the Lord, it was sone under God’s authority, ultimately it was God who chose their lot for them.

This process worked, because ultimately they believed it was God who had authority over this process.  And so even though the tribe of Dan may not have got the lot with the sea view, the tribe of Dan accepted their lot because they knew it came from the Lord.

Now, what are the lessons for us today?

I suggest there are 4 things we can take from this:

1.        Whatever your lot in life, you can find something to be grateful for

As God’s people, one of the key evidences in our lives that we are God’s people, is that we are always grateful. A people that always grumbles and moans doesn’t reflect the character of our God.

Some of us are born with a “tougher lot” than others.

Some of us were brought up in tough situations, where our parents were just awful.

Some of us have genetic disabilities which are tough.

Some of us have been given a tough lot in life, much tougher than others.

And I am not down playing your tough lot in life.

And yet friends, as believers in Christ, whatever our lot, let me encourage you, to find gratitude for something in your life.

Listen to this from Philippians 4:11-13.

This is what the apostle said:

¹¹ Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned, in whatever situation I am, to be content. ¹² I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. ¹³ I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

The apostle Paul learned to be content with his lot in life at that point.

He learned it.

It doesn’t come naturally, but it is something we learn.

We ask God to help us find gratitude in all circumstances of life.

Why?

Because we know that ultimately as the psalmist wrote in Psalm 16:5

“God ultimately holds our lot”

He is the one who holds our life in his hands.

Yes, there are many things in our lives which we can’t control, and yet God can, and God does.

We can all, each and every day give thanks to God for something, someone, some situation, no matter how small that may be.

The second lesson is this, and it relates closely to the first.

2.        Be thankful for what God has given you, rather than being upset about what you don’t have

Again, this was the problem which occurred at creation and has been rampant ever since.

Instead of Adam and Eve being thankful for all the thousands of trees in the garden that God had given them for food…….and being thankful for the paradise that God had given them……they focused on the one tree they couldn’t have. And because they focused on the one thing they didn’t have, they actually missed out on enjoying life with God forever.

Friends, let us be careful that we don’t focus all our attention on what we don’t have, because we actually miss enjoying what we do have.

Third lesson is this:

3.        Learn to live in your God given boundaries, because in those God given boundaries, is life and life to the full.

Now, we live in a fallen world, where we suffer the consequences of other people’s poor choices, and so there are some things we need to fight against and try and change.

Like if you are in a domestic violent relationship, you need to change that, if you are suffering a sickness, you need to see a doctor, get help and get better, and so there are things we shouldn’t learn to live with, since they are not in God given boundaries, but there are many things that we should embrace and learn to live with because they are God ordained things which cause us to flourish in life.

Because of our sinful nature, we try and change things which we shouldn’t.

We try and step out of our God given boundaries and when we do, it only leads to death.

God created you either male or female.

You didn’t chose to be born male or female, that is just how God made you- and let me encourage you to embrace your sex, embrace how God made you, as much as this world may lie to us, we cannot change that God given boundary that God has given us, embrace how God made you, embrace and enjoy being male or female. This is the lot that God has given you.

4.        Ask God to help you use the talents he has given you, rather than envying the talents of others.

Thank God, that he made us all different and gave us different talents.

That is the beauty and wisdom of the church, the body of Christ, all different, all working together.

There are some things which you are good at and some things that you are not so good at- and that’s OK.

God has made you for a particular purpose, and so embrace how God has made you and use it for his glory.

You are you.

You are not your dad, you are not your mum

You are not anyone else……..but you are you………because that is how God made you, and he made you to display his glory.

Brothers and sisters,

Don’t waste the lot that God has given you.

Let us pray