Ask God First

“The men of Israel wanted to know if these men were telling the truth. So they tasted the bread—but they did not ask the Lord what they should do. Joshua agreed to make peace with them. He agreed to let them live. The leaders of Israel agreed with this promise of Joshua.”
‭‭Joshua‬ ‭9:14-15‬ ‭ERV‬‬

This story is our story. Here's what happened. The children of Israel were demolishing every enemy in sight. They were victorious on all fronts. The surrounding enemies saw their impending defeat. One city, Gibeon, had a great idea.

“The people from the city of Gibeon heard about the way Joshua had defeated Jericho and Ai.”
‭‭Joshua‬ ‭9:3‬ ‭ERV‬‬

“Then they went to the camp of the Israelites. This camp was near Gilgal. The men went to Joshua and said to him, “We have traveled from a faraway country. We want to make a peace agreement with you.” The men of Israel said to these Hivite men, “Maybe you are trying to trick us. Maybe you live near us. We cannot make a peace agreement with you until we know where you are from.”

The men answered, “We are your servants. We have come from a faraway country. We came because we heard of the great power of the Lord your God. We heard about what he has done and about everything he did in Egypt.”
‭‭Joshua‬ ‭9:6-7, 9‬ ‭ERV‬‬

This city pretended to be from far away and they ended up making a very valuable peace treaty with the Israelites. From then on, Israel was bound by their promise to spend their time and money and men to defend this city. Huge waste of resources. God had no intention of them protecting this city every time they needed help. How did they get entangled with this burden? "They did not ask the Lord what to do."

How often do we burden ourselves with a new car payment, a more expensive house payment or a credit card bill to be burdened with? Huge waste of our resources. In hindsight, we should have asked the Lord if this was the right decision for this time and place.

This is a tricky statement. We also make promises to help someone or mentor someone or be a part of a committee that meets often. We get hooked by this one statement..." We came because we heard of the great power." We are flattered and we accept. And then we are burdened by keeping that commitment...for a long time.

Keep in mind that God sometimes plans for you to purchase that house or that car and definitely mentor that friend or be on that committee. The key here is did we ask Him ahead of time if this is part of His plan? I have a pet peeve to bring up here. Sometimes people read this blog and assume that they are too busy and assume that God does not want you to commit and they always say no. God did not give me free time so I can sit on the couch and watch TV. Do not have a fear of committing to something.

But in the case of Gibeon, they should not have saddled themselves with this extra burden. God intended them to become a nation that lends and does not borrow. He intended on them to bring salvation through Jesus. But He has specific plans for them just like He has specific plans for each of us. This particular city should have been demolished and not preserved. Do not be deceived by the neighboring temptations that surround you and ask you to commit your time and money. Ask God first.