Wise Leaders

April 11, 2023-Wise Leaders

Read and reflect on Joshua chapter 22.

Joshua 22:6 “. . . then Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their homes.”

The picture in verse six appears like a sweet ending. The ‘they’ that Joshua blessed were a couple of the tribes who chose to settle in the land on the other side of the Jordan River. They had been granted lands on one side of the river (not the original plan) but had to agree to fight with all the tribes together to conquer the whole land on the opposite side of the Jordan River before their inheritance would be sealed.

When they finished the fighting and left to go back to their given lands, they set up an altar as a memorial of remembrance to their heritage. This altar is taken as an offense by the other tribes. Miscommunication!! One group is thinking one thing and another group is thinking something totally different.

The other tribes saw the altar as an idol, a possible place to worship gods other than God, not a memorial remembrance. The whole incident almost results in a civil war (verse 12). Praise God for wise leaders (verse 13-19). The leaders sent a team to investigate first before jumping into a senseless war. The situation got cleared up and war was diverted back into unity.

Pray for your leaders today. They spend much of their workday clearing miscommunication in your organizations. Pray that they would be filled with wisdom, discernment, and the gift to investigate appropriately to help keep communications clear and operations running smooth.

Blessings,

Ellen