I was reading the book of Joshua and I found this passage interesting and intriguing…..it is probably not the most exciting verse there, but something stood out to me. Joshua 1:15 “Until the Lord gives them rest, as he has done for you and until they too have taken possession of the land the Lord your God is giving them. After that, you may go back and occupy your own Land, with Moses the servant of the Lord gave you east of the Jordan towards the sunrise.”

This was the message of God to the Rubenites and Gadites who wanted to stay on the other side of the Jordan. In Deuteronomy, they had asked God to stay on the other side of the Jordan where they felt was good for them and God allowed them to do so, with the condition that they will also help the rest of the Israelites enter into the promised land and fight with them after which they can return back to their territory east of the Jordan. The reason that passage stood out to me it made me start thinking of how important it is to have people that destined to help you become who God wants you to be.

I have often heard the term “helpers of destiny,” especially used in the place of prayer “may God send you helpers of destiny.” This concept represents the prayer for God to send people your way that can help you become who God wants you to be. I feel this passage in Joshua 1:15 is very significant as it relates to this concept and it had me thinking, “God who I’m I meant to be a helper to?” another question that crossed my mind was “God who are people in my life now that are meant to be helpers of my destiny.” I am more focused on the first question though…….

We don’t realize that sometimes the ability for us to access what God has set aside from us is found in us helping other people. In that passage, God was, in essence, telling them that until the people of Israel have rest, they too will not have rest. For them to fully activate and enjoy all God had for them in the land east of the Jordan they had to help the children of Israel and only then will they be able to go back and live in the fullness of what God has for them. God has a creative way of how he orders things and has created the earth in a way that needs codependency on other things.

This passage reminds me that we are not islands on our own and relationships matter to God. I truly believe that there is a purpose for every person we are connected to, some people are just passing acquaintances, some others become lifetime friends, but regardless of the closeness or lack of, there is a purpose. This motivates me to want to pray more about the relationships in my life; this new sense of understanding has heightened my sense of curiosity. It makes me want to spend more time with God asking who he has placed in my life for me to help, how he wants me to help. I am understanding that there are places and things God has blessed me with but to fully “occupy” I have to always remember one of my roles as a child of God is to be a helper. This role is not a call to help without direction from the Spirit of God, but in carrying out our role as helpers we need to submit to the Holy Spirit to lead us to who God has called us to help.

To make it practical, it might just be you noticing a job opening and instead of you ignoring it because you don’t need a job right now, you are careful to send a message out to people you know looking for a job or send it to a group chat you have; because you never know who needs one or who knows someone who does. Being a helper can be you begin intentionally about praying with someone and standing with them for what they are believing God for and being consistent in that till they see their breakthrough. The way God has fashioned it all is fascinating, the wisdom of God is something we will never understand but we see in his word that he wants us to help others and somehow in that process we find something special too. There are so many possibilities and ways God can use you to be a help to someone, but you have to be open and available and know that God is always looking to use us to help people and manifest his ability to be our help.