Scripture:
Now Joshua was old and advanced in years, and the Lord said to him, “You are old and advanced in years, and there remains yet very much land to possess. This is the land that yet remains: all the regions of the Philistines, and all those of the Geshurites (from the Shihor, which is east of Egypt, northward to the boundary of Ekron, it is counted as Canaanite; there are five rulers of the Philistines, those of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron), and those of the Avvim, in the south, all the land of the Canaanites, and Mearah that belongs to the Sidonians, to Aphek, to the boundary of the Amorites, and the land of the Gebalites, and all Lebanon, toward the sunrise, from Baal-gad below Mount Hermon to Lebo-hamath, all the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephoth-maim, even all the Sidonians. I myself will drive them out from before the people of Israel. Only allot the land to Israel for an inheritance, as I have commanded you. Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance to the nine tribes and half the tribe of Manasseh.”
Joshua 13:1-7
Devotional Thought:
Joshua has won remarkable victories. Jericho has fallen. The Canaanite coalition has been broken. Battle after battle has gone Israel’s way. And then God speaks to Joshua — now old and advanced in years — with a disorienting assessment: “There is still very much land to be taken.”
This is the condition of incomplete success. It’s not failure. It’s not disobedience. It’s the uncomfortable recognition that what has been accomplished, however real and impressive, is not the whole of what was promised. There is more. There is still land remaining.
This is a moment many of us arrive at — in our careers, our families, our spiritual lives — and it can be deeply unsettling. We’ve worked hard. We’ve seen genuine progress. We’ve been faithful in significant ways. And yet, if we’re honest, there are territories of our lives that remain unclaimed. Areas where we’ve stopped pressing in. Promises we’ve quietly stopped expecting God to fulfill. We’ve parceled out what we’ve won and settled into managing it, when God is still pointing at the horizon saying “there is still more.”
Notice that God doesn’t rebuke Joshua. He doesn’t say “you should have done more.” He simply names reality and issues a fresh commission: “I myself will drive them out.” The God who won the battles so far is the same God who will win what remains. The unfinished territory is not a referendum on Joshua’s faithfulness — it’s an invitation to keep walking forward with the same God who brought him this far.
Incomplete success is not a destination. It is a waypoint. The question is whether we settle there — satisfied enough, comfortable enough — or whether we receive God’s words to Joshua as our own: there is still more, and I am still with you.
Reflection Questions:
1. What territories in your life — relationships, faith, calling, character — have you stopped actively pursuing because you’re managing what you have rather than pressing toward what’s still possible?
2. How do you distinguish between wise contentment and the kind of settling that falls short of what God intends?
Application:
Name one area of your life where God may be saying “there is still land remaining.” Write a prayer asking Him to renew your courage and vision for that territory.