16. Seriously...you can't make this stuff up.

(Joshua, Chapter 16)

More boundaries by the sea.

In a nutshell, that is what Chapter 16 of Joshua talks about. We found out where the people connected to Joseph and Ephraim settled down.

But as I looked back on the rest of my notes from this day, something happened. Something pretty significant. At first glance, this chapter and day would have been pretty easy to skim over.

Except, God.

Have you ever been going through your day, week, month, year...and everything seemed pretty normal...only to have a bombshell of a notion dropped on you? I think we can all relate to that on some level. Sometimes that results in what feels like extra weight on us, and other times, a burden lifted off of us. We'd all rather that latter.

On August 13, 2015 a weight lifted. I'll do my best to share the thoughts that came to me, in hopes that as you read this, a weight lifts for you, too.

(*41) We want the inheritance that comes from the investment, without making the deposit.

There are times in life when we can't figure out why the needle on our relationships doesn't move. Why we don't feel more connected. Why all cylinders aren't clicking. It's because we aren't making the deposit emotionally. Drip by drip. Word by word. Comment by comment. If we want to experience joy relationally, we have to ask ourselves what we are bringing to the journey emotionally. Do we lift one another up, or tear down? Do we anticipate needs, or make excuses?

Let's take the idea of making an emotional deposit one step further.

There are actually two types of deposits.

The first is one we make into an account we can draw from. Our account. We agree with ourselves to do with less now, in order to have something to count on later. We can go back and draw from the encouragement of that commitment when we need it. But if that is the only kind of deposit we make, it ends up a pretty shallow existence.

Why is that?

Because emotional deposits, by their nature, are meant for others. We can die with a million dollars in our savings, and it will have done nothing to change the world around us. It works the same way with our hearts. All the intent, and none of the delivery, means we've been an emotional miser. We need to be able to release some of our emotional energy into the people around us, if we want our lives to make an impact.

So let's talk about the deposit that is made into the life of someone else.

The very act of making a deposit into an account that isn't ours, means we have less than we did when we started. That kind of deposit requires doing without, or less, now...so that we'll have something valuable later. The words we release from our lips, and the actions from our hands and feet leave a void in us, so that it fills the heart of someone we care about. But here's the thing...that usually comes back as an investment well made. It tends to multiply and boomerang back.

(*42) Stop pushing the boundaries, and start honoring the one who put them there.

The next thought that tugged on my heart that day was this:

Perhaps there is symbolism in the fact that God used water to define boundaries, because he alone held the power to move them. It defied logic that water could be heaped up, stopped up, and moved the way that God did.

Here's another way to see it: When logic is defied, God is glorified.

Put another way: When God is the only one who can move the boundary, He is the only one who can receive the Glory.

Those thoughts start to put a lot in perspective, don't they?

If you aren't sure whether you agree with that, I get it. We've all struggled with the thought that we wouldn't be the one to call all the shots. We struggle when we stare down relational, physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual obstacles in our lives. It was water for the people of Joshua's time. We have boats, planes, jet skis, water skis, helicopters, and hang gliders to get past the whole water obstacle. So water isn't the obstacle. But we have ours, don't we?

The point is simply this: There are going to be times in our lives when we have an obstacle in front of us, that we have 0% ability to move.

We can either fight the fact that we can't change the circumstances, or call on the only who can. And then we stand in a "no matter what" faith stance. What is that? A whole lot easier said than done, but necessary nonetheless. That NO MATTER WHAT, we will trust the plans that the Lord has for us. If he removes the obstacle, great. And if he leaves it there, great. NO MATTER WHAT, we trust in his vision and decision for our lives. Whether it makes sense right now, years later, or not until the other side of heaven.

I realize the magnitude of the ask I am making of you. Of me. Of all of us.

My father-in-law passed away when he was 43 years old.

Can someone tell me how that is fair? Can someone tell me why God didn't remove the cancer, like he stopped up the water for the Israelites? I still can't figure that one out.

Yet, we move forward. We trust. We live. We see at a heart-level our need to trust in the Lord for a peace that passes all understanding, because understanding can sometimes fail our human brains.

And all of it will be ok. Not any easier at times. But ok. Why? Because the older I get, the more I sense that there is something WAY bigger than my needs, my understanding, and limited way of seeing life that is happening.

It was at this point, that I felt prompted to read another passage of scripture. I was sitting in the wooden adirondack chair on the house deck, letting my mind wander, and being pretty simplistic about the morning. I didn't take but a few moments to read chapter 16, so that is how I spent the remainder of my time. And it popped into my head.

Read Isaiah 51.

Here are a few of the verses that jumped off the page to me, as I applied them to the previous thoughts I was having.

"Pay attention, my people. Listen to me, nations. Revelation flows from me. My decisions light up the world."

The answer(s) we are looking for aren't something we have to look harder for. We'd actually do better to slow down, and do what this says. Pay attention. Listen.

These are the other verses that stood out, as I read Isaiah 51:

"One solitary man when I called him, but once I blessed him, he multiplied."

"My setting things right will never be obsolete."

"And didn't you once dry up the sea, the powerful waters of the deep, And then made the bottom of the ocean a road for the redeemed to walk across."

DID YOU SEE THAT?

I bolded and italicized it so you wouldn't miss it.

This was one of those "AHAAA!" moments. Somehow, I stayed out of my own way just long enough, and this happened. I had decided to pay attention...to listen. I intentionally asked the Lord to show me something. And he began to reveal this teaching. It was one thing to be reading Joshua. But what blew me away was how I felt led to read Isaiah 51, and how it aligned so perfectly with what I had been reading in Joshua.

Seriously...you can't make this stuff up.

Ocean Road.

In Joshua.
In Isaiah.

I was beginning to understand that something much larger was happening on that porch in North Carolina.

And then this, towards the end of Isaiah 51:

"For I am God, your very own God, who stirs up the sea and whips up the waves."

He can whip it up, and stop it completely.

He does the whipping up and the stopping. And somewhere in the middle I've gotten really good at the whining and complaining because of my lack of understanding. Can you relate to that?

That Thursday on a North Carolina porch was a pretty profound moment in my journey with Christ. I wish you could have been there, too. You'll have to trust me when I say it happened as I just wrote about.

The very next morning, 7:36am to be exact, a thought came to me:

(*43) Gain as much knowledge as you can, so that your opinion doesn't cloud your judgement.

A humbling reminder that my opinion doesn't matter in the presence of a God who is simply trying to whisper truth to me. If I'm willing to be still...pay attention...listen, things change.

Wait until you see where we are headed over the next few chapters.

Buckle up!

For now, let's finish off with some more of our reflection questions.

PERSPECTIVE POINTS:

(*41) We want the inheritance that comes from the investment, without making the deposit. 

(*42) Stop pushing the boundaries, and start honoring the one who put them there.

(*43) Gain as much knowledge as you can, so that your opinion doesn't cloud your judgement.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:

41. What deposits have you made in the lives of those you have influence into? What words of encouragement can you deposit? What actions can you take? What sacrifice(s) might you need to make so that you can do this? Who have you confided in, so that this becomes an intentional part of your life's journey, rather than something that fades because it lacked the accountability it needed to make it happen?

42. What are the boundaries you've been begrudging that you need to work within, and start leveraging?

43. What are you doing to intentionally pursue knowledge? Are you making time to simply sit and listen? To slow down? To unplug? What time of day works best for you to do this? Identify it. Make the adjustment(s) you need to, so that you can commit to it, and experience real life change as a result of it.