Joshua took over the
leadership of Israel from Moses. He followed in Moses’ footsteps and sought
God's direction for each decision he made and every action he took. He had no
confidence in his own ability and He always relied on God’s counsel. God
promised to give Joshua ever part of the land where he set his foot and
declared that no army would stand against him (Joshua 1:3,5).
Therefore, after he put a
few successful military campaigns under his belt, Joshua’s fame spread
throughout the land (Joshua 6:27).
He got overly confident and started to believe the accolades freely given to
him by his admirers. The unconventional warfare at Jericho (Joshua
6:20) puffed up His pride, and at the
next battle in the tiny town of Ai, Joshua failed to consult the Lord.
He relied on his own wisdom.
He felt like he did not need to bother God because there were only a few men in
the city. He sent up an army of about three thousand men, expecting to hear of
their victory in no time. However, God taught Joshua a lesson through this and
allowed the few men of Ai to rout Joshua’s army (Joshua 7:3-4). Essentially, Joshua ended up embarrassed and
defeated.
It happened again when the
Gibeonite ambassadors fooled Joshua and he failed once more to consult the Lord
(Joshua 9:14). This was another
case where Joshua foolishly believed he could handle the decision without the
Lord’s direction. We do this too. We allow salesmen to pressure us, friends and
family to manipulate us and those in authority over us to demand things from us
before we take the time to pray about the decision they require us to make. We
will never succeed in life without developing the habit of first consulting the
Lord.
If Joshua had bothered to
confer with the Lord, he would have learned about one of his men who took from
the spoils of Jericho and buried it under the ground in his tent. This was in
direct violation to God’s command. The Lord’s anger
burned against Israel. The sin in the camp prevented Israel’s victory in
Ai (Joshua 7:12). Joshua failed
because he rose up in pride (James 4:6), did
not consult the Lord and went into battle with sin in the camp (Joshua 7:
5-26).
How often do we fail to
consult the Lord before barging headlong into some scheme we plan? We do not want
to bother God with our concerns and we struggle through them without His help
and anointing. We may achieve a portion of success with this strategy, but it
does not compare to the fulfillment we could reach by walking in the direction
of God’s Holy Spirit each moment of the day (Galatians 5:16,25).
Eventually, like Joshua, we fail often enough that we realize that without God’s direction we can do nothing (John 15:5). The first step is to remove any known sin from our life. Then, it is only as we wait on the Lord, that we receive courage (Psalm 27:14). It is only with Him at our right hand that we can succeed (Psalm 16:8). Even as we walk through a deadly situation, God is with us (Psalm 23:4). He is our fortress and our refuge in times of trouble and we will sing of His love forever (Psalm 59:16).
Prayer:
Father God, as Your
children, we will need to make some important decisions throughout our
lifetime. We have the choice of following a humanistic plan of action or of
seeking Your divine direction. Remind us to trust in You with all of our heart
and not to lean on our own understanding. Help us not to be wise in our own
eyes, but to consult You (Proverbs 3:5-7). That way we will not be anxious about anything, but we will pray about
everything and present our requests to You (Philippians 4:6). When we lack wisdom, we can ask You, because You
give it generously to all without finding fault (James 1:5).
Thought for the Day:
Consult
the Lord in whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. - Proverbs 16:3
Thank you Mike for the use of your photo. See more beautiful photos at:
https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/MegaPixelMike
