Thoughts on Joshua 8
Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid or discouraged. Take all your fighting men and attack Ai, for I have given you the king of Ai, his people, his town, and his land.
Joshua 8:1(NLT)
After the unexpected and sobering defeat of Israel’s army by the men of Ai, the hitherto fearless Joshua became afraid. Scripture is replete with many examples of men who were afraid as they were faced with diverse situations. For example, in 1Sam 27:1-2, we saw the same David who had taken down Goliath of Gath, after being anointed by Samuel, expressed his fear of perishing one day in the hand of Saul, for Saul had sought to kill him many times.
In 2 Chron 20:3, after hearing the news of a great multitude comprising Moab, Ammon and others were coming to battle with him, King Jehoshaphat was afraid.
One key thing to take away from these examples therefore, is not to think being afraid is unique to you. Indeed it is natural to fear, but what we must remember is that it is not scriptural to be HOPELESS. Challenges of life still come despite our commitment and dedication to the things of God. We must however not lose hope, for Christ in us is the hope of glory(1 Col 1:27).
God fulfilled His promise to Joshua by giving Israel a mighty victory against Ai. He is the same God that spoke in Isaiah 43:1-2, assuring us that He is present in all our situations and our heritage as His own is victory. Halleluyah!
Rather than complaining or becoming embittered by any situation, and sometimes even questioning the faithfulness of God or His dependability, what we must be convinced of is that God is our
our greatest ally, He is not against us ( Rom 8:37). Our Christian Journey started with knowing that God is always right, and that He will never do wickedly.
So brethren, though the prevailing situation in our country is not cheery, we must not allow the situation overwhelm us to the point of taking wrong decisions or giving up.
When nothing is moving physically and we cannot see the future or what it portends, let us look into the Scriptures for hope to be rekindled.
2 Corin 4:18 tells us that the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
May we find grace to hold on to the Word of God no matter what we currently see in Jesus name. Amen.
