Moving Day (Joshua 18)

What Joshua 18 tells us about the habit of hesitating.

Becky and I moved from Texas to Tennessee back in the late 1900s. We lived in a small apartment for a few years. We worked hard, day jobs and side hustles. We saved and I cashed in a few shares of stock we had in a little fruit company called Apple—and we signed a contract on our first home. 

1,100 square feet—every inch of it was ours. We had the keys, the paperwork. But we still had to move in. It was ours, but we hadn’t taken possession of it yet.

What has God already given that we still need to move into today?

Look at Joshua 18.  By this point in the story, Israel has crossed the Jordan River and claimed some major victories. Big battles have been won. Key cities have fallen. The land is theirs. But they haven’t moved in yet.

Verse 2 tells us that seven of the twelve tribes still haven’t picked out a plot of land and settled in. And Joshua calls them out for this. In verse 3 he asks, “How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you?”

Hesitating

The people are hesitating. Even after all they’ve seen—God parting the Jordan River, knocking down the walls of Jericho, delivering them from powerful enemies—seven tribes are still standing still. Why won’t they unpack and move in already?

Scholars offer a few possibilities. Some say the people were just tired—years of wandering and warfare had worn them out. Others think they were afraid. Moving in is hard work and risky because moving day would be a great time for their enemies to attack. It’s hard to swing a sword while you’re moving a couch. So, they hesitated.

We do the same thing. We know what God has for us— friendship, forgiveness and reconciliation, healing, a better life—but we hesitate. We hesitate to join the small group at church or start serving, find a counselor, go to rehab, say “I’m sorry.”

Why? Because I’m scared. I’m exhausted. It’s easier to stay where I am. Because change is hard. Because I just don’t want to right now.

It’s easier to wander the familiar wilderness of discontent or despair than move into the difficult and uncertain. God provides, and we hesitate.

Joshua challenges these hesitant tribes to take action.

He tells them to send out surveyors—three from each tribe—to map the land. Then they’ll cast lots before God at Shiloh to decide who gets what. This process serves two purposes: it ensures fairness and reminds them that this land is a gift from God.

God Is Involved

This leads to a second important observation about Joshua 18: The people ask God for help. The casting of lots might seem like a game of chance to us, but in the ancient world, it was a way of asking for God’s guidance. They were asking God to give them the next right step: Who should live where?

Remember the manna in the wilderness? God provided just enough for each person. Now, in the land, each tribe receives exactly what they need from God. And their job is to trust God enough to move into it.

The Habit of Hesitating

And that brings us to the last thing I see here in Joshua 18: A warning.

Hesitancy can become a habit. The seven tribes who hesitate in Joshua 18 will later struggle with idolatry, disunity, and compromise in the book of Judges. The ones who fail to fully move in become the ones who slowly move away.

We become good at what we practice. And we don’t want to get good at hesitating to trust God.

The Next Step

1. So, what’s your next right step? Let’s ask God: What is the next step you want me to take into the good land you have for me?
   
   Pause now and ask God.

2. Are you hesitating? Maybe you didn’t have to ask God for the next right step because you already know it. But you’re waiting. Waiting until you feel more up to it. Until the timing is better. Until it’s less scary.
   
   I get that. I’ve done that.
   
   But what if the waiting is training you not to trust
   
   Pause now and tell God what’s holding you back. Ask for what you need to move forward. Because He wants to help you move.

3. We knew moving into our first home was too much for us. So we called our parents. Our dads are Texans, so they brought their trucks. 
   
   Your Father in Heaven wants to help you move into the fullest life He’s prepared for you. So we’ve asked for His help—keep doing that.
   
   But we also called our friends. Tell someone what next step you’re committed to take—a friend, roommate, mentor, pastor. Ask them to check in on you, encourage you, and pray for you.

God has prepared a good land for you. It’s yours. It’s time to move in.