What if you are designed to change the wilderness you’re in?

I wanted to share something I feel the Lord revealed to me about His nature and His intentionality over us while I was trying to catch up to my family in our “ Read the Bible in a Year” plan. I’m in the book of Joshua, but I think they’re in 2nd Samuel or something like that. I’m way behind! So yesterday, I opened up the app and started to plod along through the boring part of the book of Joshua and this little nugget is tucked in the middle of some rather arduous language about property lines and inheritances. I read the passage and it jumped out at me, which is how I know Holy Spirit wants to talk about it, or show me something in it. So I highlighted it, prayed about, and began to meditate on it. I’m telling you, I could not shake it. I kept asking Holy Spirit, “What is up with this passage?? What are you trying to show me??” Today, He hit me with it, and I think it’s pretty cool and very timely, so I want to share it with you guys. We’re picking this story Joshua 15:13. 

In accordance with the Lord’s command to him, Joshua gave to Caleb son of Jephunneh a portion in Judah – Kiriath Arba, that is Hebron. (Arba was the forefather of Anak.) From Hebron Caleb drove out the three Anakites – Shesai, Ahiman and Talmai, the sons of Anak. From there he marched against the people living in Debir (formerly called Kiriath Sepher). And Caleb said, “I will give my daughter Aksah in marriage to the man who attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher.” Othniel, son of Kenaz, Caleb’s brother, took it; so Caleb gave his daughter Aksah to him in marriage. One day, when she came to Othniel, she urged him to ask her father for a field. When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What can I do for you?” She replied, “Do me a special favor. Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me also springs of water.” So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.” 

Joshua 15:13-19 (NIV)

Ok, the whole passage is for context of the story but I want to zoom in on verses 18 and 19. Let’s break it down a little bit. In verse 18 we see Othnial and Aksah coming together, which I believe is their union. While their union is taking place, she asks her new husband to procure a field for herself from her father, Caleb. Othniel does, and the result is a portion of the Negev, a desert. The word “Negev” means drought, and the region is beautiful and arid, according to the pictures I’ve seen on the interwebs. But let’s back up and hammer that point, a side note but a good side note, one more time..

Caleb’s daughter, that he gave as a prize to his nephew for winning a battle, asked for a field, and her father gave her a desert and springs. The Father gave a bride to a Son that won a battle! And then the Father gave them a field and the means to change it! I love it! It’s a beautiful picture of Jesus and the Father and us! But that’s not what I want to get at right now. I just saw it, and wanted to point it out!

A Good Father?

Othniel has evidently done his part. He’s requested the field for his bride, and she’s received it. The fact that the field is in a desert, or at least is in drought, is where the story feels off. It brings up a very important question that I think we need to address. Is Caleb a good father? I think that depends on what lens we look through to see him. If we look through the lens of Father Hurt, or the lasting effects of being wounded or abused by a father figure, I think we’ll see a father who bribes warriors with his daughter like a carrot dangled from a stick  and discards her when he gets what he wants. Then, when he has a chance to redeem himself for that betrayal, he gives his discarded daughter a desert when she asks for a field. I’m highlighting this for a reason, I truly believe someone reading this is dealing with father hurt and is putting the face of the father who hurt them on God the Father’s face. I want to invite you right now to separate the Good Father from the pain you’ve endured. He’s nothing like any earthly dad, even the best of earthly dads pale in comparison to Papa God! 

What is really there, is a father who seeks out a strong husband for his beloved daughter. Othniel is a great warrior and commander of men. He won a battle that even Caleb himself, a man who has fought in wars and conquered land until he’s 85, had trouble conquering. Sure, when his daughter asked him for a field, he could’ve given her the choicest land that he had, but I want to posit a theory with you that is based on Aksah’s response. While doing that, I also want to focus your attention at what Aksah’s intent might be for the land. Let’s look at the response again in verse 19:

…When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What can I do for you?” She replied, “Do me a special favor. Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me also springs of water.” So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.” 

Joshua 15:18b & 19

Sit with this for a minute and begin to think with Holy Spirit about what she might be seeing. What is she thinking about this gift? What’s in this passage? What’s not in this passage? Once you’ve thought about it for a moment, I’ll share my thoughts.

PAUSE…

When she greets her father, I don’t see anger or frustration. I think you see excitement and anticipation! And what I love about this is that she doesn’t complain about the gift. I think that’s because she sees the potential in it. She seems to exhibit a resolve for solution finding. It’s like she has accepted a challenge. And knowing that she needs something else to unlock its potential, she asks her father for springs! If I were to put this exchange in my own words it’d be something like this:

“Hey Dad! Ok… I love it, but it needs some work! So I’ve got a solution to the land thing. Since this land is a desert, I’m going to need water to change it. So would you do me a favor? An extra special favor?!? Can I have the springs to the north and south of the desert too?”

She has caught a vision for the land her father gave her and she has a solution for changing it. She has plans to interrupt the land’s designation as a desert or its definition as a drought. She’s going to irrigate it. All she needs is another gift from her father. 

A Different Perspective:

Now let’s re-look at the gift. I might be taking license here, but I’ll give you context on why I take this license before I do it. My own experience with Papa God is that He is extravagant in his giving, but oftentimes, He will give gifts that engage us. He’ll give us something that we can catch a vision for and use the talents we have to see it flourish. Talents that He put in us.Sometimes, we don’t even know we possess the ability, until we receive the gift that needs the ability we possess. The gift awakens the ability. 

So, instead of looking at this gift through the lens of Father Hurt, let’s look at it through the lens of an extremely intimate and loving father who “gives good gifts” (Matt. 7:11). And let’s do this in the first person. I imagine  the Father’s point of view sounding something like this:

“Othniel, the chosen warrior bridegroom who has proven himself by conquering my enemy, is choosing to honor my beloved daughter’s request by asking me for a field. (Quite possibly this request is a wedding gift!) I know my daughter’s personality and passions intimately because of the relationship we’ve had since she was a small child. I’ve decided that not only will I give her a gift, but I’ll give her a gift that will satisfy the request, and provoke the passions in her heart. She has a love for agriculture, and an eye for improvements and a mind for solving problems. What if I give her a piece of land that will allow her to shine by using all of the talents and skills that I know she possesses? In doing this, I’ve not only secured for her an amazing man who will protect her, and who has now chosen to honor her, but I’ve given her the ability to shine through this land that others would call barren. She’ll be called blessed and talented and amazing when she turns this desert into a fertile field, and her husband’s heart will turn towards her because he’ll get to see the value in her that I see.”

Notice here that the Father didn’t hesitate to produce the springs. He already had them at his disposal and yielded them without question. There’s no deliberation or hesitation. The springs are in the perfect location, to the north and the south, so that both sides of the land can be fertile. It’s like He knew she would ask. To me, it shows just how much he understood her. The Father is giving his child land that she can catch a vision for, change, and show the glory that is in her. Wow! Do you see it? What a good Father! I think this is one of the joy’s Papa God gives us. He gives us a land that we can catch a vision for. He gives us a land that will showcase the glory that He has placed in us. He gives us a land that when it is changed by the springs of blood and living water that flowed from Jesus’ side, will be fertile and produce a harvest. The only hindrance is my perspective. What if the daughter’s perspective had been different. What if she had just seen a barren land? 

My Perspective Matters:

My perspective matters in every situation. My perspective of the Father matters, and my perspective of His gifts matter. If the daughter’s perspective had been different on either of those points, it’s very possible that the land wouldn’t have come to life. She could’ve been offended and abandoned her gift. What would’ve happened to the land? This is a beautiful picture of co-laboring! The father is counting on the glory in the daughter to bring life to the land. There are solutions that need to be found, and preparations to be made! The spring water will need to be routed throughout the land to bring about change. How will she make it happen? What could she utilize? No doubt she was able to count on the husband who honors her and the father that calls out the goodness that he sees! So good! 

I want to bring this home a little and show you what I’ve noticed. It’s often my perspective of where I am that hinders my soul prospering. If I view the Father as cruel, or unkind, or selfish, then His gift won’t be for my joy or to awaken dormant things inside of me. It won’t be a gift given to bless and prosper me, It’ll be given to quiet a nuisance with the bare minimum. I’ll view Him as selfish for keeping the best for Himself. I’ll miss the victory that He’s setting me up for! And that’s the rub, this gift is to make me victorious. 

The Game is Rigged in My Favor:

I feel the need to just touch on another passage from Isaiah 54:15-17:

If anyone does attack you, it will not be my doing; whoever attacks you will surrender to you. “See, it is I who created the blacksmith, who fans the coals into flame and forges a weapon fit for its work. And it is I who have created the destroyer to wreak havoc; no weapon formed against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from me,” declares the Lord.

Isaiah 54:15-17 (NIV)

This may seem to be a bit out of place here, but this points to a Father that sets his children up for success. God created everything and when the enemy uses what God created against us, the servants of the Lord, not only will it not have the intended effect, but they’ll be surrendering to us! Every circumstance that hurts or has the potential to destroy us, is going to be used to show the Glory of God through us! The game is rigged in my favor and that’s pretty cool! And I think we see the same principle in Joshua 15. Aksah is being set up to succeed in what might be deemed an adverse circumstance. It may look like defeat is imminent but she has been given the tools for success. And on top of that, she has a husband who honors her and a father who makes provision. She has support. 

I find parts of my story in this passage in Joshua. At no point would I have requested to experience  some of it, but it’s mine now. I’ve taken responsibility, even though it’s not my fault, for what’s happened in my life and pursued the healing of Jesus for everything. I’ve received a lot of healing already and I’m waiting with a great expectancy to receive more! I’ve become thankful for my story now, and as I’ve grown to even love my story, I see where it was the Father’s good pleasure to give me a land that I could catch a vision for and bring good fruit out of. It would look like a desert to anyone who doesn’t have my vision for it, but to me, it’s a paradise, ripe with the fruit of a good Father’s love! 

Wrap It Up:

If you’re like me and feel like you’ve found yourself in a place that seems arid and dry, my encouragement to you is to get excited and be thankful! Another amazing quote from Isaiah 54:1 shows the kind of excitement this situation warrants. 

“Sing, O barren, You who have not borne! Break forth into singing and cry aloud, For more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married woman,” says the Lord.

Isaiah 54:1

This would be called an unreasonable display without the context of a Father who rigs the game in your favor. It’s not about the circumstance, it’s about the Father. The Father has brought you to a place that you can catch a vision for and use the glory that He has put in you to see it changed! You’ve been given the opportunity and privilege to show the Glory of God! And He already has the provision you need to see this land changed, so there’s only one thing left to do. Ask Him for the provision. Now, repeat after me…

Papa, now that I have the desert, give me also springs!