When God Speaks: The Question Is Its Own Answer (Joshua)

When God Speaks: "The Question Is Its Own Answer"
October 27, 2008

When the whole nation was finally across, God spoke to Joshua: "Select twelve men from the people, a man from each tribe, and tell them, 'From right here, the middle of the Jordan where the feet of the priests are standing firm, take twelve stones. Carry them across with you and set them down in the place where you camp tonight.'" Joshua called out the twelve men whom he selected from the People of Israel, one man from each tribe. Joshua directed them, "Cross to the middle of the Jordan and take your place in front of the Chest of God, your God. Each of you heft a stone to your shoulder, a stone for each of the tribes of the People of Israel, so you'll have something later to mark the occasion. When your children ask you, 'What are these stones to you?' you'll say, 'The flow of the Jordan was stopped in front of the Chest of the Covenant of God as it crossed the Jordan—stopped in its tracks. These stones are a permanent memorial for the People of Israel.'" –Joshua 4: 1-7 (The Message Translation)

Someone asked me how the devotionals come about. Truth is, I don't know. I sit with a Bible and just begin to read chapters until God says "now read that again". So when I re-read this passage, as instructed, I asked the question "Why did Joshua pick them?" Though the purpose of the story is to show how God was able to make Joshua gain the trust and respect of Israel as their leader, my concentration was focused on twelve men and why Joshua was so taken with them that he would extend the honor of being the vessels through which God would work.

What I've learned about God and the mysteries of His word is that, while He is no respecter of persons, if it is imperative for you to know the name of a specific person, it will be known. But here, you don't get that. You don't get to trace the lineage of their fathers; you don't get to learn of their occupations in the tribes or how many children they had. You just know that they were chosen. But why? Why, out of all of the men in Israel, were they selected?

I remember when I began to seek God about what eventually became BirthRight, I kept asking "Why me? Why did you choose me?" While I don't necessarily have the answer, I realize it's irrelevant. India.Arie, in her song 'Just For Today' (which is also the theme song to The Tyra Banks Show) says "it's okay to not have the answer 'cause sometimes it's the question that matters." In asking the question, inherent is the answer:

Question: Why did God choose me?
Answer: I have been chosen by God.

Those twelve men may or may not have known why they were selected by Joshua to carry those stones from the Jordan River; however, it is inconsequential. They were selected to manifest the will of God among His people and nothing can be more humbling than that. Why does God choose us? Who cares? Just be thankful that He does- considering, as my grandma Sarah used to say, "He's God and He don't need NOBODY else!" Amen.

©BirthRight, 2008