Joshua 19:17-23: in context

As the land is divided among the tribes, the fourth lot falls to Issachar. The passage lists the towns of its inheritance, Jezreel, Shunem, and the rest, sixteen cities with their villages, reaching to Mount Tabor and the Jordan. This is the inheritance of the tribe of Issachar, the text concludes, according to their families. Issachar was not among the prominent tribes; yet it received, like all the others, its own full portion in the land.

There is a quiet reassurance in the way the land is divided: every tribe received its inheritance, including the less prominent ones. Issachar was not a leading tribe; it produced no famous kings, played no starring role in the nation's story. And yet Issachar received its portion, its own towns and territory, its full inheritance, just like the great tribes of Judah and Ephraim. In the dividing of the land, none of God's people was left out; every one, prominent or obscure, received a place. This says something about God's care for all his people, including the overlooked and the unremarkable. We can feel, in the community of God's people, like one of the less prominent tribes, not among the leaders, not those with the visible roles or the notable gifts, easy to overlook, unlikely to be remembered. And it can seem that God's good gifts and God's attention are for the prominent, the gifted, the notable, while the ordinary and overlooked are somehow left with less. Issachar's inheritance says otherwise. God did not overlook the less prominent tribe; it received its full portion, its own place in the promised land, no less than the great tribes. God leaves none of his own without an inheritance. And the New Testament makes this even richer: every one of God's people, whatever their prominence or gifting, has an inheritance reserved in heaven, kept for them, a portion that does not fade. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places, the psalmist says; I have a good inheritance. This is the confidence of every one of God's people, not only the prominent: that God has given us a portion, a place, an inheritance, and that the overlooked and unremarkable are not left out of his provision. Issachar, not a leading tribe, received its full inheritance; and God's care and provision reach every one of his own, the obscure and overlooked no less than the prominent.

Do I feel like one of the less prominent, overlooked in the community of God's people, as though his good gifts and attention were for the notable and gifted while I am left with less, or can I take reassurance from Issachar, not a leading tribe yet given its full inheritance, that God leaves none of his own without a portion, and has an inheritance kept for me no less than for the prominent?