Consulting the Lord

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 generally relied on God’s counsel. 

God promised to give Joshua every part of the land where he set his feet. God also declared that no army would stand against him (Joshua 1:3,5). Therefore, with a few successful battles to his credit, Joshua’s fame traveled throughout Canaan (Joshua 6:27).

This caused his heart to swell with pride, and He got overly confident. He started believing the praise awarded to him, rather than giving credit to the Lord. The unconventional warfare God told Joshua to use at Jericho (Joshua 6:20) puffed up his confidence. Therefore, at the next battle, in the tiny town of Ai, Joshua did not bother to consult the Lord.

He relied on his own wisdom instead. He sent up an army of about three thousand men, expecting to hear of their anticipated victory. However, God taught Joshua a lesson through this and allowed the few men of Ai to defeat Joshua’s army (Joshua 7:3-4). 

God humbled Joshua, and he ended up embarrassed and dejected. It happened again when the Gibeonite ambassadors tricked Joshua by their deceptive words (Joshua 9:14-22). Joshua foolishly believed he could handle these decisions without the Lord’s direction. 

We do this too. We forget to pray and to seek God's counsel when salesmen pressure us, friends and family manipulate us and those in authority over us demand things from us. True success in life only comes when we seek advice from the Lord before making a decision, and follow His advice even if it is not popular or seems not to make sense. Hindsight proves that God is right.

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

Do You Feel Like an Octopus?

The Lord promises to be with us, even through the veil of death (Psalm 23:4). Nothing can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:35-36). There is no insult, adversity, persecution or difficulty that we cannot rejoice in for the sake of Christ; because when we are weak, that is when He is strong in and through us (2 Corinthians 12:10). In any type of trial or trouble, Jesus gives us His peace, which surpasses all human understanding (John 14:27).

God’s peace is our solace at home, at work and in the community, even when hardships come our way. The first principle of living in victory over Satan and the world is wearing Jesus’ peace as a cloak against any stressful situation we encounter. The Lord is always with us (Psalm 118:6). His peace quells all of our fears, worries and setbacks. He causes our persecutors to stumble, so that they do not prevail in the end. They will not prosper, and they will fail and be disgraced (Jeremiah 20:11).

However, even the Christian life gets overbearing at times. We had so many expectations and ministries to fulfill that we neglect our quiet time with the Lord. We are burdened by expectations from our parents, pastor, friends, employers, children and church family. We get overly committed and start to drown in our myriad of responsibilities. Satan whispers false accusations in our ear and we believe what he says as truth. We start to resent all of these demands and the pressure they put on us to be everyone’s beck and call.

Jonah had these same feelings (Jonah 1:3). In fact, he ran from God and from the ministry God called him to accomplish. He got himself in all sorts of trouble. He even cost his fellow shipmates the loss of their income and almost their very lives. God knows how to take care of us, however, even in the difficulties we tend to create for our self. He knows how to discipline our iniquities and to help us to see His big picture. He reveals to us what our obedience means to His Kingdom and for our blessings.

This helps us to take our commitment to Him more seriously. We spend time reading God’s Word and listening to the leading of His Spirit. The Lord guides us and satisfies our needs, even when our strength fails us. During the dry, parched times of life, He causes water to spring up within us. We dwell as a well-watered garden, even in the midst of troubles and trials (Isaiah 58:11). God’s Spirit is our guide all throughout our life and even through our passage from this life into the next (Psalm 48:14).

Prayer:

Father God, Your infinite Spirit frees us from the restrictions of this world. You transcends time, space and matter (Psalm 139:8), and You fill the heavens and the earth. Your infinite power works for us, in us and through us as we wait on You (Jeremiah 23:23-24). Thankfully, You are not contained in a building, restricted in Your movements or denied Your will (Acts 17:24). You are never far from any one of us, because as Your children, we live and move and have our existence with Christ in You (Acts 17:27-28: Colossians 3:3).

Thought for the Day:
Even if our life does not unfold the way we planned it; God works it out better than our best ideals.