Thursday Devotional - If He'd Only Waited

Have you ever told a child (or yourself) “If you’d only waited…”?

I know I have many times!

God specifically told Joshua and the Israelites not to take any plunder from Jericho when He delivered it into their hands. As we saw last week, Achan disobeyed and took things anyway. He brought destruction on himself, his whole family and other Israelites. If he had only waited, God told Joshua they could take plunder from the next battle!!

Joshua 8:1-3, 27-28            Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Take the whole army with you, and go up and attack Ai. For I have delivered into your hands the king of Ai, his people, his city and his land. ² You shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, except that you may carry off their plunder and livestock for yourselves. Set an ambush behind the city.”

³ So Joshua and the whole army moved out to attack Ai. He chose thirty thousand of his best fighting men and sent them out at night… 

²⁷ But Israel did carry off for themselves the livestock and plunder of this city, as the Lord had instructed Joshua. ²⁸ So Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanent heap of ruins, a desolate place to this day. 

Where do you and I need to be obedient and wait? Maybe there is something we really want and haven’t gotten yet. I can’t say for sure we will get what we want by waiting, but I can say for sure that if we disobediently go after something it won’t end well. Going ahead of God’s plans and His timing never works. It may bring temporary happiness (a few days for Achan) but not lasting joy.

Let’s remember Achan the next time you and I want to make something happen or have something now. God knows best. We can ask for His help to wait. We can seek His plans and timing.

Alice

Thursday Devotional - More Answers

After last week, did God help Joshua figure out who had sinned?

Joshua 7:16, 19-21, 24-26 ¹⁶ Early the next morning Joshua had Israel come forward by tribes, and Judah was chosen…  ¹⁹ Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, and honor him. Tell me what you have done; do not hide it from me.”

²⁰ Achan replied, “It is true! I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. This is what I have done: ²¹ When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia, two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”

²⁴ Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the gold bar, his sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys and sheep, his tent and all that he had, to the Valley of Achor.²⁵ Joshua said, “Why have you brought this trouble on us? The Lord will bring trouble on you today.”

Then all Israel stoned him, and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them. ²⁶ Over Achan they heaped up a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day. Then the Lord turned from his fierce anger. Therefore that place has been called the Valley of Achor ever since.

This seems harsh, especially after Achan confessed to his sin. However, this is what God instructed Joshua to do (Joshua 7:15 – all destroyed by fire).

Sin is serious and it doesn’t just affect us. It affects those in our family, community, work place, nation, etc.   

Similar today, we can’t expect God to support us, defend us, help us, and go with us if we choose to live in sin, condone sin, or try to hide sin. It won’t go well for us as a country or as individuals. It must be removed.

As Jessica talked about last Monday (1/14/19) about mourning our sins, let’s examine ourselves. Where might you and I be living in, condoning or hiding a sin? It can be very painful to remove the sin, but the benefits and blessings to ourselves and others are well worth it in this life and the life to come. God wants to help us in those areas, if we will truly repent and ask for His help to remove it and move forward in obedience.

Alice