Is It The Road Or The Driver?

And Joshua said, "Ah, Sovereign Lord, why did You ever bring this people across the Jordan to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us? If only we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan!" - Joshua 7:7

When was the last time a superior of some form or fashion gave you a job, a set of rules, a command with responsibility, a mission, saddled you with the responsibility to ensure that deliverables were constructed; or, put another way, that objectives and outcomes take place? The rest of it was that they left you to do the job and then disappeared from sight with seemingly no regard for the obstacles that cropped up?

Perhaps you were given precise and accurate instructions on how to get from point A to point B but in the getting their you seemed to keep getting stuck by tickets, road construction, hazards’ and traffic.

Let me put it in spiritual terms for you. Have you ever felt like you were doing what God wanted you to do, but your plans were totally frustrated? The more you attempted to do the right thing the harder it became and perhaps the farther you seemed from the goal. This was how Joshua felt.

Originally God had promised Moses that Israel would be “given” a land of their very own. Moses, because of disobedience to the known word of God, did not receive that promise and was left outside the land. Nonetheless, Israel, under the obedient command of Joshua sallied forth. The Lord was with Israel as they entered this land of Promise. Oh, and prior to the completion of the task (to occupy their land) God also informed Israel the land I am giving you, well, you’re going to fight the current occupants for it. Great!

Well, Israel defeated every enemy because of God's blessing and protection. As of the writing of the above verse they had just taken the city of Jericho. They even knew where the next battle would be fought, a city called Ai. They scouted the enemy and determined it would require just 3,000 men for victory. They attacked! But soon reports came back that they were being beaten. A perplexed Joshua was dumbfounded. He dropped to his knees in dramatic fashion, buried his face in the dirt and cried out to God.

God was not impressed.

The Lord said to Joshua, "Stand up! What are you doing down on your face (you nerfball)?” Then God delivers the stunner: “Israel has sinned; they have violated My covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction" - Joshua 7:10-12.

Here is the tale of the tape kids:

1. Whenever we open ourselves up to sin, we become liable not only for our actions but we remove ourselves from God’s protective promises. God cannot rule, reign and execute His good will where he doesn’t have the rule and we demonstrate our love by our obedience to Him.

2. Once God removes His protective shield from our lives we now can see just how powerless we are to accomplish anything of value. The sin must be purged out.
Our Eternal Dad, like a Chess master uses a pawn will often allow the enemy of our souls (the Devil) to accomplish the task of bringing us back to reliance and faith in Him. If you feel you are being thwarted in some way, examine your life to see if there is any sin that is the cause of the problem.

I am not suggesting out and out known disobedience to God is always the reason for failure in our “goals for God.” Sin does however need to be eliminated as a source.

Ask your Heavenly Father if this is the case. He will show you. He instantly showed Joshua. Remember, more than just my most recent theme, God’s desire is relationship with you. Once you are His He will painfully pursue its growth between the two of you. The road from point A to B is still the right road. How you handle the getting there determines how much pleasure you derive from the trip! I remain…

InHISgrip,
~J~