Trusting God to Lead Us (Joshua 2:24)
And they said to Joshua, truly the Lord has given all the land into our hands and also all the inhabitants of the land melt away because of us.
—Joshua 2:24
What a report. Joshua 2:24 describes people returning from spying out the Promised Land. Remember the last time they did this and the report they brought back: “This land is full of people too powerful for us to overtake.” They refused to enter, even though God had promised the land to them. They turned back, rebelled against him, and an entire generation died in the wilderness. Now, however, a new generation has arrived. They enter the land, see it for themselves, return, and report to Joshua:
“Truly the Lord has given all the land into our hands.”
In other words, they believe God. They trust him to lead them, just as he promised he would. Is that not a good word? What happens when God’s people trust him to lead them according to his promises? Even this statement—“The Lord has given all the land into our hands”—reveals an important truth.
God owns the land. They know it. They also know that the only way they can possess it is if God gives it to them. In the same way, you and I should recognize that God owns all things. Anything good we receive or possess is given by his hand. All of this leads us to pray:
God, help us today to take you at your word in all that you are calling us to do according to your word and the leadership of your Spirit. Help us to step boldly into what you are calling us to without fear, with humility before you, and with trust in you—with wholehearted trust like Caleb and Joshua. God, help us as your people to trust your promises, your plans, and your purposes. Do not let us shrink back from all that you are calling us to do.
Especially as we consider the mission you have given us in this world to make disciples of all nations, help us to step fully into that mission. Lead us to go into every land and every place you call us to, beginning right where we are. Help us to enter our cities, neighborhoods, and communities proclaiming the good news of your love.
A Prayer for the Nosu People
God, we pray that many people around us would come to know your love. Help us to spread the gospel and make disciples where we live. Yet do not let us stop there. Help us continue going to all lands and all nations, including the Nosu people of East Asia. I think about this people group and the opportunities I have had to participate in bringing the good news of your love to them. God, we pray for the spread of the gospel among more and more Nosu people. Help us, as your church, to go into all lands trusting you to fulfill your plans and purposes according to your promises.
So, God, give us faith like the faith we read about here in Joshua 2:24. We pray this in Jesus’s name—the name of the one who leads, guides, and directs his church. In Jesus’s name we pray. Amen.
