People from the Negev will occupy the mountains of Esau, and people from the foothills will possess the land of the Philistines. They will occupy the fields of Ephraim and Samaria, and Benjamin will possess Gilead. Obadiah 19 (NIV).
This verse harkens back to God’s original promise to Jacob/Israel about the land he and his descendants would inherit. God had kept that promise, hundreds of years later, when He delivered Israel (the nation) from Egypt. Centuries later, under David, the entire land was unified under one ruler who submitted himself to the Lord. Of course, sin took root and the kingdom soon split. In time, one kingdom disappeared altogether. The other was taken captive by Babylon. That kingdom would return to its homeland but also eventually dissipate.
Kind of a downer, right? Only if you stop there. Instead, how about we think bigger, think longer-term. Instead of simply saying, “well that’s nice to know,” how about we remember that God did improbable things in the lives of ancient Israelites, and He’s doing wonderful, improbable things in our lives, too.
Right. People are dying of cancer, AIDS, and covid. There has never been true peace in the land of Jacob, even from his day thousands of years ago. Our divisive politics have some in America talking civil war. Those who break the law seem, more and more, to get away with it in a two-tiered system of no justice. Millions are unemployed while both big business and big government thrive. And God is doing wonderful things in our lives? Get a grip.
Grip on this: He is. Jesus is every bit as active in your life today as He was in Billy Graham’s, or John Paul II’s, or Jacob’s, Mother Theresa’s, or Moses’. All those leaders: they were ordinary people. God did extraordinary things through them and their use of the talents He gave them. They didn’t have any supernatural powers or abilities, but they did have a relationship with Him. Because of that, Jesus was able to work His Kingdom work through their lives and bless so many others.
Like them, every morning we get to wake up to a new day. Good or bad, improbable things can happen today, and can happen because of what we say or do. In my opinion, big things happen in the world because ordinary people like us live our God-given lives, not because of politicians, business titans, or media influences. The world moves because Jesus moves through us and, as He does, He moves mountains. He fights diseases, and hopelessness, and raw emotions. He does it through us so that His promises of old may bless us all in the world we know today.
For further reading: Numbers 1:36, Isaiah 11:14, Jeremiah 31:5, Obadiah 20
Lord Jesus, praise and blessing to You for living through us, for doing great things in our world today.
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Practical Proverbs 