So, it’s true, people are mistreated. But there’s a difference between being a victim and having a victim mentality. What do I mean by that? What I mean is focusing on two things. The wrong sort of mentality does this. Number one – you focus on what you don’t have instead of what you do have. Number two – you focus on what you cannot do instead of what you can do. That is to say, there are things in your life you didn’t choose, there are things in your life you can’t control. There were things that other people did to you that you perhaps suffered because of their mistakes or their sins. And you can’t do anything about it.
But it doesn’t help you or anyone else to say that’s me, that’s my identity, is all those things that happened to me, all of those limitations. It’s like if Zebulun said, “My whole life I wanted to be the tribe of surfers.” Well, you didn’t get any land by the sea, Zebulun. You got to go hang out with Asher. He got all the land by the sea. But, Zebulun, you can spend your whole life thinking about what you don’t have and how Asher got all the breaks and he got the land by the Mediterranean Sea, or you can think about what you do have and what you’re going to do.
So they all had to learn the very important lesson – to trust the Lord who literally drew the lot for where they would live that would determine so much of their life. There are all sorts of things you cannot control.
This clip is part of the sermon “Dividing the Land, Trusting the Lord” delivered by Dr. Kevin DeYoung at Christ Covenant Church in Matthews, NC on January 12, 2025.