Clear the Forest

Transcript

Hello, my friend… so glad you're with me today. This is By God's Call — day 68, Clear the Forest.

"You are a numerous people and have great power. You shall not have one allotment only, but the hill country shall be yours, for though it is a forest, you shall clear it and possess it to its farthest borders. For you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have chariots of iron, and though they are strong." Joshua 17:17-18.

Let this scene take shape in your mind.

The tribe of Joseph had already received their portion of the promised land — but they looked around and said: this isn't enough. We are many, we are strong, we need more room. It could have sounded like complaint, like ingratitude. But Joshua didn't rebuke them. He did something far more interesting: he challenged them. He said, fine, you want more? Then that forested hill country will be yours. Go and take it.

Notice something important here. The land was already theirs. The promise was already settled, already sealed, already belonged to them by right. But it was covered in trees, covered in undergrowth, covered in work not yet done. God had given the land — but no one was going to clear that forest for them. Here is a truth we forget easily: God's promise is not laziness dressed up as faith. It doesn't eliminate your work — it gives your work its meaning. You don't labor to earn the promise; you labor because you've already received it, and now you must take possession of it.

How many times has God already set something in front of you — an opportunity, a calling, a dream — and you looked at the dense forest covering it and gave up before you ever picked up the axe? The land was promised. But no one said it would arrive cleared, plowed, and ready to plant. It arrived as forest. And your part is to clear it.

And notice what else stands out: Joshua wasn't even shaken by the fact that the Canaanites had iron chariots — the most advanced military technology of the day. He said: even so, you will drive them out. Because the size of the obstacle was never what determines whether God's promise is fulfilled. What determines it is the faithfulness of the one who received the promise to go and do the work.

You are numerous and powerful — not because you are strong on your own, but because God matched what you carry to the size of the challenge He set before you. He wouldn't hand you a forest if you had no axe.

So today, I want you to stop and think: what is the forest standing in front of you right now? That project that feels too big. That relationship that needs reconciling and looks impossible. That calling you've felt for a long time and haven't taken the first step on because it looked like too much work. The land is already yours. All that's left is to clear it.

So here is today's call: identify one area of your life that God has already promised, but that you've avoided clearing because it looks too hard. And take the first step today. Just the first one. The axe already in your hand is enough to begin.

Stay close to God. Pray — then act. I'll see you tomorrow, my friend.