“When your lot seems too small, improve the lot you have.”

Joshua 17:14-18
(14)  And the children of Joseph spake unto Joshua, saying, Why hast thou given me but one lot and one portion to inherit, seeing I am a great people, forasmuch as the LORD hath blessed me hitherto?
(15)  And Joshua answered them, If thou be a great people, then get thee up to the wood country, and cut down for thyself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the giants, if mount Ephraim be too narrow for thee.
(16)  And the children of Joseph said, The hill is not enough for us: and all the Canaanites that dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both they who are of Bethshean and her towns, and they who are of the valley of Jezreel.
(17)  And Joshua spake unto the house of Joseph, even to Ephraim and to Manasseh, saying, Thou art a great people, and hast great power: thou shalt not have one lot only:
(18)  But the mountain shall be thine; for it is a wood, and thou shalt cut it down: and the outgoings of it shall be thine: for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, and though they be strong.

Explanation

The descendants of Joseph were a large tribe in the nation of Israel. Apparently, they felt squeezed by small plot of land they had been given. Joshua pointed out that areas within their plot (“Mount Ephraim,” v. 15, and “the mountain,” v. 18) needed to be developed. Also, they were large enough and strong enough to accomplish that work.

There’s nothing wrong with asking God for more, but let us first be sure we’re making the most of what He’s already given.

Photo by Christopher Burns on Unsplash

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