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And Joshua said, “Ah, Sovereign LORD, why did you ever bring this people across the Jordan to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us? If only we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan! O Lord, what can I say, now that Israel has been routed by its enemies? – Joshua 7: 7-8

I write a lot about being content. To me, it’s really important to have peace with what God’s given me, and what He’s chosen for my life. It’s easy to spend so much time worrying about what we don’t have, that we neglect to be grateful for what we do.

Sometimes, however, being content is not what God has in store for us. Sometimes God desires for us to act in ways that may shake the normalcy of our lives. He wants us to follow His lead and to trust in the outcome. When the Israelites were destroyed by the Amorites, Joshua questioned why they couldn’t be content to stay on the other side of the Jordan. But God’s plan for the Israelites lives was to traverse the Jordan; being content with the “good enough” life on the wrong side of the Jordan, would have been the wrong thing to do.

And although I fear the times when God calls me to be un-content with the life that I’ve achieved, He’s always been faithful to offer me an even better promise on the other side of the river.