Taking the Hard Places

"One Year Bible" Old Testament History Passage
Joshua 15:1-63

"As for the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah could not drive them out; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem to this day". Joshua 15:63 (NKJV)

Joshua is a book about conquest. It is a story of how God's people entered their promised inheritance. But, the story is incomplete. Israel never took ALL of the land God said was theirs. A glaring example is a place that later came to be called Jerusalem.

Right in the middle of the Promised Land a small, insignificant, weak tribe called the Jebusites barricaded themselves in a high stronghold and the tribe of Judah could not dislodge them.

This is indicative of those areas in our lives that seem so hard to bring under the Lordship of Jesus. We may enjoy great victory and blessing in 95% of our life, but that remaining 5% gives us fits. It's called a stronghold, and it defies God's rulership and denies you of full joy and blessing.

It is interesting to note that years later, when David became king, the very first thing he did was conquer the stronghold of the Jebusites (II Samuel 5:6-10). He turned a place of continual embarrassment and defeat into a place of victory. And he renamed it. He called it the City of David. This can be your story, too. God takes broken places and makes them power places!