Joshua 19:1-16

Territory of Simeon

19 Then the second lot [a]fell to Simeon, to the tribe of the sons of Simeon according to their families, and their inheritance was in the midst of the inheritance of the sons of Judah. So they had as their inheritance Beersheba or [b]Sheba and Moladah, and Hazar-shual and Balah and Ezem, and Eltolad and Bethul and Hormah, and Ziklag and Beth-marcaboth and Hazar-susah, and Beth-lebaoth and Sharuhen; thirteen cities with their villages; Ain, Rimmon and Ether and Ashan; four cities with their villages; and all the villages which were around these cities as far as Baalath-beer, Ramah of the [c]Negev. This was the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Simeon according to their families. The inheritance of the sons of Simeon was taken from the portion of the sons of Judah, for the share of the sons of Judah was too large for them; so the sons of Simeon received an inheritance in the midst of [d]Judah’s inheritance.

Territory of Zebulun

10 Now the third lot came up for the sons of Zebulun according to their families. And the territory of their inheritance was as far as Sarid. 11 Then their border went up to the west and to Maralah, it then [e]touched Dabbesheth and reached to the [f]brook that is before Jokneam. 12 Then it turned from Sarid to the east toward the sunrise as far as the border of Chisloth-tabor, and it proceeded to Daberath and [g]up to Japhia. 13 From there it continued eastward toward the sunrise to Gath-hepher, to Eth-kazin, and it proceeded to Rimmon [h]which stretches to Neah. 14 The border circled around it on the north to Hannathon, and [i]it ended at the valley of Iphtahel. 15 Included also were Kattah and Nahalal and Shimron and Idalah and Bethlehem; twelve cities with their villages. 16 This was the inheritance of the sons of Zebulun according to their families, these cities with their villages.

Do you know what the problem is with asking God to help you win the lottery? Okay, so maybe there are several, but a big one is that you’re asking God to dump more on you than you can handle.

We see this illustrated in the first section, where Judah had taken a huge allotment of land for their tribe. If you look at a map of the twelve tribes, it becomes obvious the tribe of Judah received quite a bit more land mass than anyone else.

This idea is illustrated also in Jesus’ parable of the “talents”. More often, we don’t have what we think we should have because we can’t handle it, or we won’t take responsibility for handling what God wants to give us. That’s a hard truth, but God won’t overload us and expect us to come out smelling like roses in the end.

Being mature enough to realize, “I can’t handle any more than what God has already given me” is a big step in the right direction. Then figure out what needs to happen for you to enlarge your “capacity”. That doesn’t automatically mean God will suddenly open the floodgates of heaven. Again, he knows what is best for you, and what you have right now IS what is best for you right now. Do the best you can with what God has given you (trusting every moment for His wisdom and guidance), and leave the rest up to Him.

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