Want to Achieve Victory in Your Life?
8:24-25 When it was all over, Israel had killed everyone in Ai, whether in the fields or in the wilderness where they had chased them. When the killing was complete, the Israelites returned to Ai and completed the devastation. The death toll that day came to twelve thousand men and women—everyone in Ai.
There is an amazing story of Joshua. If you don't remember the story, I will remind you of the short version. Joshua was Moses' successor. THE Moses, who led the children of Israel out of Egypt. Joshua was the man chosen to lead the children of Israel into the Promised Land. The first battle against Jericho was a smashing success. There is a song I heard about it when I was a little girl…
Joshua fit the battle of Jericho
Jericho, Jericho
Joshua fit the battle of Jericho
The walls come tumblin' down, Hallelujah
Joshua's leadership was sealed. However, the children of Israel were commanded not to take any spoils from Jericho. Small detail but nonetheless a command.
At the next battle, Joshua was so incredibly confident that there would be another smashing defeat that he sent a small troop to defeat Ai.
7:3 They returned to Joshua and reported, “Don’t bother sending a lot of people—two or three thousand men are enough to defeat Ai. Don’t wear out the whole army; there aren’t that many people there.”
Look at the result…
7:4-5 So three thousand men went up—and then fled in defeat before the men of Ai! The men of Ai killed thirty-six—chased them from the city gate as far as The Quarries, killing them at the descent. The heart of the people sank, all spirit knocked out of them.
What could have happened? How did this fearless, well-equipped group fail in their second attempt when they smashed the army to smithereens in their first attempt? Joshua was stunned and obviously hit his knees in prayer asking God these same questions.
7:10-12 God said to Joshua, “Get up. Why are you groveling?…
Have you ever done that…groveled on your knees, asking God why you are so defeated in life? Why can't you get a handle on money? Weight issues? Family Issues? Marriage issues? Why God?
God's response…7:12 "I can’t continue with you if you don’t rid yourselves of the cursed things."
13 “So get started. Purify the people. Tell them: Get ready for tomorrow by purifying yourselves. For this is what God, the God of Israel, says: There are cursed things in the camp. You won’t be able to face your enemies until you have gotten rid of these cursed things.
What is your forbidden thing that God asked you to get rid of? This is when it is helpful to stay in the Word. If God forbids it in His Word, then he expects you to be obedient. No if, ands, or buts…no excuses. Mark and I thought about what things may be "hiding in our camp." We agreed that it was going to be troublesome to decide. But observe how troublesome it was for Joshua to find the hidden items. Keep in mind that there were over 600,000 men alone in the camp, not counting women and children. That is a lot to check:).
7:16-18 Joshua was up at the crack of dawn and called Israel up tribe by tribe. The tribe of Judah was singled out. Then he called up the clans and singled out the Zerahites. He called up the Zerahite families and singled out the Zabdi family. He called up the family members one by one and singled out Achan son of Carmi,
Turns out that one guy had kept some of the spoils of the battle with Jericho. Joshua had a choice. He could let it go, reprimand Achan or get tough on the issue. We have the same choice. We can forget about the whole thing after we have spent a lot of time searching for things in our life that keep us from victory. We can deal with it by saying "Well, that is good to know and I will try really hard to get on top of this issue. Or we can blast it with dynamite, like Joshua did.
7:25-26 Joshua said, “Why have you troubled us? God will now trouble you. Today!” And all Israel stoned him—burned him with fire and stoned him with stones. They piled a huge pile of stones over him.
Joshua did not want to take another step against his enemies until he was certain that he had done everything in his power to be ready to fight. We ask God to empower us to be victorious in our marriages, in our ministries, in our jobs, with our health, in our finances…but how badly do we really want to be victorious? Are we willing to not stop until we have overturned every last stone to find the culprit that is keeping us form victory? Is it pride? Is it selfishness? Is it wanting to live like the world and follow the ways of Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram. Nothing inherently wrong with any of these. But if Facebook is causing you to stumble, then delete Facebook. If your selfishness is causing you to not be happy in your marriage, then ask God to do open heart surgery and transform your heart. If certain foods are causing you to stumble with your diet every single time, then don't bring it into your house.
Jesus did not come so that we could live weak, puny lives. He came to give us abundant lives, full of victory, and full of joy. I don't know about you but I like the way that sounds. It has nothing to do with material things…just an abundance of joy. I want to live in victory so I am going to search my camp for the things that need to be kicked out, asked to leave, burned out, not inviting them over anymore, …whatever it takes.
