Thursdays with Joshua

Read Joshua 7:6-9 – Then Joshua tore his clothes, and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord until evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads. And Joshua said, “Alas, LordGod, why have You brought this people over the Jordan at all—to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? Oh, that we had been content, and dwelt on the other side of the Jordan!  O Lord, what shall I say when Israel turns its back before its enemies? For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear it, and surround us, and cut off our name from the earth. Then what will You do for Your great name?” (NKJV)

Isn’t it interesting that when we fail, we first think that somehow God has let us down? We charge into our battles without seeking God’s direction and then wonder at our own failure and why God didn’t prevent it. Too often, we ask God to bless and empower what we are doing rather than letting God participate in our planning process. He intends to use us in His eternal purposes, but more often our goal is to use Him for our agendas, even when we think we’re doing His work. Joshua should have asked God, “What did we do wrong?” He would have been closer to the right answer. Instead, he accuses God of failing them when he had failed to seek God’s direction for this battle to begin with. That’s a mistake that’s easy for us to make as well.

– Dr. Mike Clarensau serves as Senior Director of the Healthy Church Network of the Assemblies of God.