Give Me This Mountain

"Give me" is often a selfish request. Whether it's a child who has learned that "gimme some" gets him what he wants or the adult who is hoping for his/her gains to come with no personal effort, the expectation is basically self-centered. Even prayers are sometimes selfish, not going beyond "Lord, give me this," and "O God, I want that."

But "give me" can also be a very mature and self-sacrificing request. Caleb's story is told in the Old Testament. The people of Judah came to Joshua, and Caleb spoke to him. "You'll remember what God said to Moses concerning you and me back when he sent us into Canaan to spy out the land. We brought back an honest and accurate report. The companions who went with us discouraged the people, but we stuck to our story because we trusted God. That was the day that Moses solemnly promised me, 'The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance, you and your children's, forever. Yes, you have lived totally for God.' Now look at me: God has kept me alive, as He promised. I was forty years old back then, and it is now forty-five years since God spoke this word, years in which Israel wandered in the wilderness. And here I am today, eighty-five years old! I'm as strong as I was the day Moses sent me out. I'm as good as ever in battle, whether coming or going. So give me this mountain [the hill country] that God promised me. You yourself heard the report, that a fearsome tribe of giants was there with their great fortressed cities. But If God goes with me, I will drive them out, just as God said." (from Joshua 14:6-12)

Caleb, even at eighty-five, was not expecting something for nothing. He was ready for war, ready to take on the hostile people in the land, ready to take the walled cities there, no matter what it cost. He was saying, "Just let me at it!"

Do we, when we pray, expect God simply to "give" us what we want? In His mercy, He often does, but sometimes, just as we may deny the whining child's demand, He chooses another way to answer. Sometimes He doesn't lay the desired thing in our hands until we've done battle with the "giant" that is withholding it. Sometimes we cannot just walk in and take over the "walled cities" but have to strategize and to marshal all the forces at our disposal before the answer comes. But like Caleb we can say, "If God goes with me, I will get what He intends to be mine. I am not afraid. I can take this mountain!"

MaryMartha

Art from http:www.sxc.hu/