Contemplative Bible Reading

Joshua 2:23-24 (New Living Translation)

23 Then the two spies came down from the hill country, crossed the Jordan River, and reported to Joshua all that had happened to them. 24 “The Lord has given us the whole land,” they said, “for all the people in the land are terrified of us.”

The spies return. They report, “We have the logistics, the technology, and the manpower, the land is ours.”

Uh, er, well, no, that’s not what they said. Instead, “all the people in the land are terrified of us.”

Consider the events prior to that statement. Twelve men wandered around the land gathering fruit. Well, not so terrifying. Why were the people terrified? Because God caused them to be.

Whoa. God put terror in the minds of hundreds of thousands of people. That’s pretty powerful, huh?

I write this post today on the third day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Do you have some time to pray today? How about this one, “God, please put peace and tranquility in the minds of the soldiers on both sides. Fill them with compassion.”

And I guess we can pray that everyday about just about everyone in the world. That includes anyone we can think of who goes into tense and harmful situations. That means the fella’ who has a brick in his hand and sees an unbroken window owned the “them” as well as the policeman called to grab that fella’ who just broke a window and stole a pair of expensive Nike shoes. And that includes me as I walk into the office to learn that someone disapproved of my request to do something or other and I’m trying to find a way to get back and …

Pray for peace, love, compassion, and the many things we should all have everyday. God terrified the people of the land. God can put thoughts and feelings into everyone everyday. Let’s ask.