Seeking God
Joshua defeats Jericho with ease but encounters problems along the way when they decide to move against AI. Joshua did not consult with God, therefore he didn't know about Achan's sin until it was too late.
We need to prioritize consulting God and seeking His divine will and in doing so we can and will prevent defeat unlike Joshua who was defeated by a small town known as AI. He was also decieved by the Gibeonites (Joshua 9 vs 14). All this occurred for one simple reason. He did not consult God and he paid the consequences of that decision, as compared to the other times when he did consult God and recieved victory.
The same is true for us also. We can choose to seek what God thinks on every matter concerning us and apply His word that will bring us victory or we can be, not just ignorant but arrogant to what God desires and never seek him and be defeated by every circumstance in our lives.
One of the things that is so important in seeking God is that we learn to Obey Him. Obedience to God's will is key to our recieving victory over sin.
Sometimes, 'Victory can defeat us.' That sounds ironic but let me explain. How can victory defeat us ? We start of strong by always seeking God's will in every matter and we have great accomplishments because we've chosen to obey the voice of God rather than the voice of reason. The problem comes in when we've become so confident of victory that we want to quickly move on to our next battle thinking we will overcome whilst in the process of forgetting the source of our victories. This is seen in how Joshua approached those situations mentioned in scripture. There's also another reason for the cause of not seeking God. The Bible mentions that through Israel's past victories, the hearts of other nations melted around them in fear of Israel and their God.
Joshua and the Israelites could have become so puffed up by their victories that they claimed glory for themselves. This is the act of sinful human nature. And we could and probably have already fallen into this trap. What God does for us and through us, we claim we've done it all by ourselves, therefore giving glory to the work of our own hands and denying the power of God in our lives. When this happens, we should take careful note that the fall is always a hard one. Doesn't Proverbs remind us that "Pride always comes before a fall?" (Proverbs 16 vs 18).
Let us be encouraged to always seek the face of God in every matter whether it be big or small. We must be dependent on him for everything. The consequences are grave if we choose to disobey or even neglect seeking his will in everything.
When we consult God, He will always reveal to us what needs to be done. He will also show us what we need to correct in our lives, so that we can accurately do what needs to be done. We need to deal with our sin, so that it does not affect us in the long run of life.
We should always be careful also that our pride doesn't overtake us and that we should be able to take every thought captive before the Lord (2 Cor. 10 vs 5). We should always be mindful that all glory is meant for God alone. We're meant to be reflectors of God's glory and not keepers of it. Don't let your past victories defeat you. Always seek the hand of God for every decision in all of life.
I hope and pray that today, you are encouraged to always seek God.
"For whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who Seek him." - Hebrews 11 vs 6b (ESV)
Much Blessings,
Shane
NB: Don't forget to leave a comment or email us. We would love to hear from you.
thepassionatebeliever@gmail.com
Interesting thought:
ReplyDelete"Our victories can defeat us"
And also true:
"Pride comes before the fall".
Yes, we've all been there and it's time to learn from our mistakes, and give to God the glory He alone deserves. Ultimately, the battle was never ours in the first place, yet we have the providential privilege of sharing His every victory.