After getting their land allotment the two tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh were dissatisfied with their portion. Joshua 17:14 tells us that representatives of these two tribes came to complain to Joshua about it. They said, “The hill country is not enough for us, but the plain is occupied by the Canaanites who have chariots of iron.” Joshua told them to drive them out anyway.
Huffman and Ogilvie rightly observe, “Many a contemporary analogy could be made here. How often we have complained to God that we have not really been given fair treatment. We want something more or different than God has seen fit to give us. How many times I, in my own whimpering way, have made my complaints to God, and He has given me the same word Joshua gave to the tribe of Joseph. He has told me to use faithfully the resources He has given me and to quit complaining about my lot in life. God has made it clear that if half the energy I spent in complaining would be spent in doing something constructive about my circumstances, they would radically improve.”
New Year’s resolution Number 2: Cut back on complaining!