The Grass Isn't Always Greener

Have you ever found yourself looking ahead so much that you forget to enjoy the hear and now? As I get older, I look back at the early days of married life and how I use to long for the opportunity to be in ministry. And while I wouldn’t trade where I’m at now for anything, I often remind myself that those were really special days that I should’ve enjoyed more. Maybe that’s you today. Maybe you’re so focused on getting out of school, finding a better job, looking for the right college, that you don’t ever take time to appreciate where God has you now. Now, let me say that there’s nothing wrong with planning for the future, but there is something wrong with being discontent with the blessings that the Lord gives.

And with that said, today we are going to look at a whole tribe of people who dealt with that same thing and as we look at them, we are going to see just how dangerous that mindset can be. It is my prayer that tonight we will find ourselves being encouraged to praise God for today and to decide that we are going to rest in Him and serve Him where we are right now. And we will hopefully learn this through three points tonight. First, we should aim to:

Cultivate Contentment In Where God Has Placed You

a. In Judges 1:34 we read,

Judges 1:34 NKJV

34 And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountains, for they would not allow them to come down to the valley;

Verse one here isn’t telling us that they were patiently waiting for their land, but that they were looking for somewhere new. Now, what’s interesting about this passage is that in verse 2, they send out spies exactly like Israel did in Numbers when they were spying out the promised land. The difference here is that they aren’t spying out the land that God had for them, but for where they felt like they should be. What we will find today is that just as Israel in Numbers suffered due to trusting in their own wisdom, so will Dan.

So, the spies travel into neighboring territory, find Micah’s Levite Priest (Explain backstory), and he assures them in their journey. The spies go back tell the tribe that the land is good and that it has a city of people who are happy and unsuspecting and so they gather together an army of 600 men. So what do we learn so far? 1. We learn that we can often be full of sinful discontentment.

2. The behavior of the tribe of Dan shows us that when we decide that we aren’t going to rest in God’s will and decide to go our own way, that we:

Show that we think we know better than God.

And that He is too weak to trust for help, so we can figure things out ourselves.

Place Your Confidence in the Lord

Another thing that we find is that this army of 600 men returns back to where the spies met Micah’s priest and this time they come to steal Micah’s idols and to hire his priest and Micah is absolutely beside himself. In verse 23-24 he says that by them taking his idols and his priest, he has nothing left. But the army tells him to go home or they’ll kill him and his family. I believe we can learn a few things here:

We learn that idolatry is foolish. Micah’s idols couldn’t rescue themselves, he had to try and get them back.

We learn that idolatry brings failure. Micah builds these idols, expects blessings because of these idols, and what does he have when they’re taken away? Nothing.

What we learn from this is that we should not look to the things of this life to fill us with what we’re seeking, but that we should rest in God alone. He is all-powerful and He bestows blessings that cannot be taken away.

Sin is Corrupting

The last thing that we see happening in this text is in Judges 18:27-31. The tribe of Dan invades this quiet and secure people, kills them, and burns everything down. The writer is trying to make us feel sorry for these people. And as they take over this city, they name it Dan, and set up a center for idol worship. Now, God made it clear that there was supposed to be a worship center set up in Shiloh and only there. God also commands that His people make no idols, but what does the tribe of Dan do? First, they didn’t trust Him to lead them to fight for their land, second they trust in a corrupt priest, and now they set up a center for cult worship that will be an area known for idolatry. Now, what stands out most is that later on several tribes of northern Israel disappear for good when they’re invaded and in Revelation, when the tribes are listed, the tribe of Dan is left out of the list.

I believe that this passage teaches us that sin corrupts and that it affects more than just us, but also those around us and those who come after us. This should lead us to look in our hearts and to ask ourselves what kind of legacy are we leaving? But the big thing is that unless we know the One who succeeded where Israel failed, the One who established a pure religion and a new covenant. If we don’t know Jesus, then we are just like the tribe of Dan. Without Jesus, we rest in our own strength, we ignore God’s wisdom, and we are trapped in sin and don’t much care to consider who or what it affects.

But for those of us who do know Him, Hebrews 12:1-2 says:

Hebrews 12:1–2 NKJV

1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Tonight, if you are discontent with where the Lord has you, this doesn’t mean that you aren’t allowed to work hard to improve what you’re going through. But it does mean that we need to be very careful to look to the Lord, to rest in His strength, and to fight where He has us for His glory.