Joshua 8:1 "And the LORD said unto
Joshua, Fear not, neither be thou dismayed: take all the people of war with
thee, and arise, go up to Ai: see, I have given into thy hand the king of Ai,
and his people, and his city, and his land"
After the people of Israel had dealt with the sin in the camp, the Lord then said to Joshua, "I have given you the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land." God had always intended to give the town of Ai to Israel, but they failed to trust and obey Him concerning the stuff of Jericho. Then they failed to trust and obey Him concerning taking the land. The nation was not to be splintered and divided; yet they took it upon themselves that they could handle this small problem with just a little bit of effort.
I keep going back to the defeat in order to fully appreciate the victory. Though we are not to dwell upon the past, there are lessons to be learned as we live today and look to the future. We must learn full dependence upon the Lord in all our trials and troubles of life. We may think of them as "small things" and think we can handle them ourselves. Sometimes we might even say, "Well it's so small that I don't want to bother God with it." Can I say that when we take that approach, that would be the thing that "bothers" God. I use that term bother in the same context as the statement of not wanting to bother God. The Word of God teaches me that it is the Father's good pleasure to give us the kingdom of Heaven. That is, it is His pleasure for us to do the right thing and enjoy the peace and joy that follows. When there is something that intrudes upon that peace and interrupts our joy in the Lord, we must learn to give it completely to Him - no matter how small or trivial it might be.
Peter was inspired to write in his first epistle, "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due time: casting ALL your care upon Him; for He careth for you." That sounds so simple, doesn't it? So I ask myself the question, "Why, then, is it so hard to do?" Israel looked at a small thing (Ai) and said, 'We won't bother God. We can handle this.' They were defeated. So many times, I have done the same thing. I must learn to take my burdens to the Lord and leave it there.
After the people of Israel had dealt with the sin in the camp, the Lord then said to Joshua, "I have given you the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land." God had always intended to give the town of Ai to Israel, but they failed to trust and obey Him concerning the stuff of Jericho. Then they failed to trust and obey Him concerning taking the land. The nation was not to be splintered and divided; yet they took it upon themselves that they could handle this small problem with just a little bit of effort.
I keep going back to the defeat in order to fully appreciate the victory. Though we are not to dwell upon the past, there are lessons to be learned as we live today and look to the future. We must learn full dependence upon the Lord in all our trials and troubles of life. We may think of them as "small things" and think we can handle them ourselves. Sometimes we might even say, "Well it's so small that I don't want to bother God with it." Can I say that when we take that approach, that would be the thing that "bothers" God. I use that term bother in the same context as the statement of not wanting to bother God. The Word of God teaches me that it is the Father's good pleasure to give us the kingdom of Heaven. That is, it is His pleasure for us to do the right thing and enjoy the peace and joy that follows. When there is something that intrudes upon that peace and interrupts our joy in the Lord, we must learn to give it completely to Him - no matter how small or trivial it might be.
Peter was inspired to write in his first epistle, "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due time: casting ALL your care upon Him; for He careth for you." That sounds so simple, doesn't it? So I ask myself the question, "Why, then, is it so hard to do?" Israel looked at a small thing (Ai) and said, 'We won't bother God. We can handle this.' They were defeated. So many times, I have done the same thing. I must learn to take my burdens to the Lord and leave it there.