And Joshua said, “Alas, Sovereign Lord, why did you ever bring this people across the Jordan…
If only we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan!...
The Lord said to Joshua, “Stand up! What are you doing down on your
face?
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.
Joshua 7:7-8, 10-11(emphasis mine)
I can’t help it, this passage makes me
laugh. It sounds like the same song, second verse (and third and fourth) of
what the Israelites have sung all along. Here is just a sampling:
“The Israelites looked up, and there
were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to
the Lord. They said to Moses, ‘Was it
because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die?...It
would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!’”
(Ex. 14:10-12).
And a little later, “In the desert the
whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them,
‘If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in
Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you
have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death’”
(Ex. 16:2-3).
And this one reminds me of the sloth’s
voice of panic in Ice Age, “The
Israelites said to Moses, ‘We will die! We are lost, we are all lost! Anyone who
even comes near the tabernacle of the Lord will die.
Are we all going to die?’” (Num. 17:12-13).
Now Joshua’s falling into the same
trap—running back to the safety of the past when things don’t go as you hope. The
Israelites had been enslaved for 430 years and had been crying out for God to
rescue them, but as soon as He did, they started complaining and wanted to go
back. It sounds ridiculous to us when we read the Bible, yet it’s exactly what
we do.
Any time God comes to rescue us—whether
it’s escaping abuse, addiction, sinful habits, bad relationships, or destructive
thought patterns—there’s always a strong pull back to our old ways. Even though
we hate what sin does to us and want a better life, it is still more comfortable
than the new life God wants to give us. We’re familiar with slavery. We know
what to expect. Like the woman said of her husband, “He may be a slob, but he’s
my slob.”
Even though Joshua didn’t yearn for
the “wonderful pots of meat” they enjoyed in Egypt as slaves (just think about
the absurdity of that for a minute), he did suggest they run back to the other
side of the Jordan. The river God had recently parted at flood stage for them
to walk across on dry ground. Joshua had taken a step away from Egypt, but
still wasn’t ready to stay in the Promised Land.
God’s answer is gruff but funny. “Get
up off your face child and stop groveling.” The answer was to deal with the sin
in the camp, not to give up the campaign. God doesn’t take back His promises
just because problems arise. Instead, He takes care of the problems and keeps
moving us forward.
You’ve probably already encountered some
obstacles since you started prayer walking, or thinking you might want to
start. What did you do? Did you immediately want to give up and run back to the
way things were before you took this bold step of faith? I know I have. It’s
scary to head for the Promised Land with no map and no prior experience in war.
At least when you’re a slave you know what to expect. But there’s no freedom in
that.
If you’re discouraged, run to God and
tell Him all about it, but don’t give up. That’s just what the enemy wants you
to do. Instead, ask Him, What’s the real
problem, Lord? What do you want me to do about it? Listen to His answer and
do what He says; then move at His command to take over the Land. Every place
you set your foot.
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil
with good.
Romans 12:21
#relapse #dontgiveup #runningbacktoslavery #prayerwalking
#spiritualwarfare #claimingterritory #Joshua7 #Rom12:21 #halloween
#AllSaintsDay
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