Taking Ground | Week 7
Day 6
“Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me… the Lord helping me, I will drive them out.” - Joshua 14:12
Caleb did not ask for the easiest assignment.
At 85 years old, he did not request flat land, quiet fields, or already-settled cities. He asked for the hill country, the territory still occupied by giants. The Anakites lived there. Their cities were large and fortified.
And Caleb said, “Now give me this hill country…”
Why would an 85-year-old man ask for the hardest ground?
Because he understood something essential: a promise from God does not eliminate participation with God.
God had promised the land decades earlier. The word had been spoken through Moses. The inheritance was guaranteed. But Caleb knew promise did not mean passivity.
“The Lord helping me, I will drive them out.”
That sentence holds the tension of biblical faith.
God helps.
Caleb drives out.
God’s sovereignty does not cancel human responsibility, it empowers it.
Taking ground in your family works the same way.
God has promised peace.
God has promised blessing.
God has promised generational faithfulness.
But those promises must be embraced, pursued, and defended.
Caleb fought for a bigger story than his own comfort. He understood the inheritance would belong to his children. His obedience would shape generations.
The story you are living is not just about you.
Your choices ripple forward.
We see similar courage in Joshua 17:3–4 with the daughters of Zelophehad. In a culture where women rarely received inheritance, these daughters stepped forward and said, in essence, “God promised this to our family.”
They did not shrink back because the request was unusual. They believed God’s word applied to them. They claimed their inheritance.
They fought for what was promised.
Contrast that boldness with the tribes who failed to fully drive out their enemies (Joshua 16:10). Their compromise likely seemed harmless at first. Maybe even practical. Why remove laborers who could be useful? Why disrupt economic stability? Why not coexist peacefully?
But partial obedience always carries long-term consequences.
Judges 2:11–13 tells us what happened next: Israel abandoned the Lord and served Baal and Ashtoreth.
What they tolerated eventually ruled them.
They wanted peace at any cost.
They valued money over obedience.
Compromise rarely looks dangerous in the beginning. It looks manageable. Reasonable. Convenient.
But if you do not fight for God’s promises in your family, culture will slowly occupy that ground.
No one wakes up intending to drift into idolatry. Drift begins with small concessions. A little less vigilance. A little less courage. A little less obedience.
Caleb refused that path.
He did not say, “At my age, someone else can handle the giants.”
He did not say, “Let’s just coexist.”
He said, “The Lord helping me, I will drive them out.”
Taking ground requires effort empowered by grace.
It means confronting patterns that dishonor God.
It means guarding what enters your home.
It means refusing to let comfort replace conviction.
Families long for peace. But biblical peace is not achieved through avoidance, it is achieved through alignment with God.
Joshua 14:15 ends with a powerful statement: “Then the land had rest from war.”
Rest followed obedience.
Not before.
After.
True rest comes when compromise has been confronted and obedience embraced.
And here is the ultimate hope: Jesus is the greater Joshua. His very name, Yeshua, means “The Lord saves.” He has already secured ultimate victory through the cross and resurrection.
2 Corinthians 1:20 reminds us that every promise of God finds its “Yes” in Him.
The decisive battle has been won.
But we still step forward in faith. We still confront giants. We still reject compromise. We still choose obedience in daily decisions.
Taking ground means believing God’s promises are worth fighting for.
Not to look blessed.
But to truly live under the reign of a faithful God.
And when families live that way, fighting for what God has promised, refusing partial obedience, trusting His help while doing their part, the land finds rest.
Not because there were no giants.
But because God’s people chose faith over fear, obedience over compromise, and promise over comfort.
