“There remains yet very much land to possess…”

These words jumped off the page at me today. God had given the Israelites the Promised Land, but they needed to go in and take it. With Joshua leading the charge, there were many battles ahead to be won and much ground to be gained. Chapter 13 of Joshua starts by saying,

Now Joshua was old and advanced in years, and the Lod said to him, “You are old and advanced in years, and there remains yet very much land to possess.”

First of all, let’s just notice that God calls it like it is: “Josh, you’re old,” he says. By telling it like it is, God makes the rest of the statement even more exciting. “Yes, you’re old, but that doesn’t change the fact that I have so much more for you.”

With God there is always more: More ground to gain, more territory to regain in our hearts, more battles to be fought and won, more land to discover and to possess. There is always more. Even in old age, it’s not finished, not even close. It’s never over. Even when Joshua was old, there was very much land yet to possess. Our God is the God of abundance.

Maybe today God is reminding me that yes, there is much more ahead. I’m young, relatively speaking, so if there was “very much” land left for Joshua in his old age, how much more land is there for me, right now?

What could my yet unpossessed land look like practically speaking? I took the time just to dream for a little bit today and this is what I came up with:

husband – yoga teacher – job possibilities – PhD – a family – a condo – more of Jesus – ministry – travel – living abroad

These are the things that I can dream of in a realistic Promised Land kind of way, but God is a God of abundance. I can’t even imagine what he has in store for me if I know that his plans are always better than mine.

Yesterday and today have been kind of hard, if I’m being honest. A door in my past has been sealed shut, and with that comes the realization that there is more ahead of me. May I remember that there is very much land ahead to possess. Very much…

(photo credit: Cuba Gallery)