The Path of Least Resistance
Joshua 18:3 NIV
So Joshua said to the Israelites: "How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you?
There were still seven tribes which had not received their inheritance. The lots had been cast, God had made the decisions, but the tribes had not destroyed the remaining Canaanites as God had told them to do. There could have been a number of humanly logical reasons for this. These tribes were nomadic people; they had grown up wandering in the wilderness. It may have been very difficult for them to settle down into a specific place. to build cities and grow crops. It would mean a complete change in their lifestyle.
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In addition, the economic system of the area was already in place. There were already farmers, tent makers, camel ranchers, city governments, and a form of monetary exchange. Why upset the apple cart? Why get rid of something that was working and have to start over again from scratch? Why re-invent the wheel? Besides, war costs a lot. If they kept going with this war, they could go bankrupt. It was much easier and more practical to settle in peacefully with the few remaining Canaanites than to keep doing battle with them. And so, these seven tribes chose the path of least resistance.
It's much easier to yell at a teenager and ground him for a month for the tenth time - or maybe just not say anything at all - than to sit down and discuss what's causing the problem and try to find a permanent solution. It's much easier to quit your job than to keep putting up with a boss like yours. It's much easier to just show up every Sunday for church than to have a daily Bible study and quiet time. It's much easier to go along with what your boss tells you to do, even though it's definitely against what God's Word teaches. Jobs are too hard to come by these days. And it's definitely the easy way to handle it by going along with your friends when they start gossiping or engaging in some other activity you know goes against what God wants you to do. After all, you don't want them to think you're one of those radical right-wing conservatives, or even worse, some kind of "Jesus freak"!
It can be quite easy to fall into the habit of choosing the path of least resistance, even though that path is generally the opposite one God would have us take. We want to take the easy way out. We want to avoid any conflict. The problem is, the more we take what seems to be the easy way, we find ourselves sliding further and further into a quagmire of conflict that is much more difficult to resolve than it would have been had we done things God's way in the first place.
The next time you're faced with a decision, try taking the truly easy way - God's way - and let Him be your path of least resistance.
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