Is that opportunity knocking?
Linda is away during March, Clayton Bjelan brings you today’s devotion.
I reckon anyone would have been fooled by this charade.
Reference: v14 “The Israelites sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord.”
Explore: Not that long ago I was offered the opportunity of a promotion. It was one of those opportunities that would have meant more influence, more prestige, more advancement in my career, and a bit more money.
A smooth path was laid out for me, so there didn’t seem to be any hassles. But there was this nagging feeling that maybe I wasn’t supposed to take it.
Application: It was actually this very verse (9:14) that my wife and I mulled over when considering the promotion. You see, a bit like this job opportunity, the Israelites thought this proposition was too good to pass up!
Here were a group of people (supposedly from a land far away) who were asking for a treaty of peace. And after a whole lot of fighting, what a relief it must have been for Joshua and the elders to grant someone peace. I mean, after all, they weren’t in the immediate vicinity, and therefore God didn’t want them to destroy this group of people right?!?
The Gibeonites deliberately deceived the Israelites by taking old clothes and mouldy bread to make it look like they had come a long way and the leaders fell for it! This verse so succinctly explains what happened and what they should have done… they “sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord”.
I reckon anyone would have been fooled by this charade from the Gibeonites, but there was one way to get around it… pray. Just ask God, He would have told them it was a trick.
For me and my wife – we decided to take this verse to heart and prayed about the promotion. So, what seemed on the surface like an incredible opportunity, ended up being something that we turned down (and after praying we had a good sense of peace).
The result is that I am VERY thankful I didn’t take the job, things have worked out great because we didn’t just go off what we saw, but took the time to inquire… thank you Joshua and the leaders of the Israelites for allowing us this little lesson!
Prayer: Dear God, help me to pray. Pray about life and hear from You, Amen.
What do you need to double check with God today?
This article was written by Clayton Bjelan