We have been blessed by powerful teaching from Chris over these past weeks. This Sunday was no different. In Joshua 8, Chris taught us how the Lord prepares the Israelites to take the city of Ai. Remember that Ai had just been the site of the Nations humiliating defeat because of their disobedient “go it alone” attitude. But this time, God provides a great victory and even allows them to take booty from the ruined city. At God’s direction, Joshua sends 30,000 men to lay in ambush to the west of Ai and then approaches the city with the rest of his force. When Ai attacks him with all their fighting men, he pretends to retreat and the doomed soldiers pursue, leaving the ambushers in position to attack from the West and burn the city to the ground. When the main army sees the smoke of the burning city, they immediately turn and mount their own attack. The entire population of Ai of twelve thousand was killed on that day. Later, at a ceremony at which a stone altar is dedicated on Mount Ebal, Joshua has the law (God’s Word) read to the people out loud. Half the people stand in front of Mount Gerizim and half in front of Mount Ebal – one a mountain blessing, the other a mountain of curses for disobedience. Joshua and the people of Israel learned that the real battle is not against flesh and blood but is spiritual. Ai is a dramatic example of how our God will fight all our battles for us and the good news is that you win.
As we can see in Joshua 7 and 8 (and in our own lives as well), Satan is good at being bad. Knowing our weaknesses, he camps out with hot anticipation just waiting for his chance to launch his attacks. And he does it with extreme accuracy. The good news is we can begin to recognize his tactics and watch as his attempts are thwarted. How? By saturating ourselves with Scripture. By reading about the triumphs of those who stumbled before us. By believing God is bigger than Satan’s best shots. Remembering why the enemy continues to hit us where he does is essential.
If we become increasingly aware of our areas of struggle and rely on God’s strength in those areas, eventually they will not be the targeted areas. The only reason they are revisited is because Satan has success there. It’s a spiral that we can get out of. We need to believe that God is bigger than those areas of our lives. The truth is, God is bigger than any weakness we have. Mull that over in prayer for a while.
In their book, Boundaries, Townsend and Cloud tell a story about a man who continually goes down a street and falls into a hole. The story paraphrased goes like this:
A man would go down the street, see a hole, and fall in. The next day the man walked down the street and saw the hole and fell in again. The third day the man partially changed his route but eventually still fell in the hole. The fourth day he altered his route a little but then looked back and fell in the stubborn hole. Finally when the man became tired of his failure, he decided to walk on the other side of the street. Enough was enough. He stopped thinking he could do it. Many of us still think we can.
When we keep trying to get different results by doing the same thing, others recognize it as insanity; we think we are persevering.
It’s helpful in our battles to remember God’s track record. He has proven himself in each of our lives. I need to remember what he did in my life because that’s the life I’m living. And while I can learn from the stories of others, it’s important to look back and see his faithfulness to me.
David went against Goliath, not because he was feeling particularly giant-strong and bullet proof one day, but he remembered God was with him—the very same God who gave him strength when he stood eye to eye with a bear—the same God who showed up when a lion crossed his path. David’s trust needed to be in the right place, in God. Once that was established he stepped out.
And when Saul tried arming David with something that might have worked for Saul, David dismissed it. Not merely because of the obvious, the poor fit, but because God was the one who would do the fighting and he fights armor-free.
Satan is a liar and a twister of words. He did it in the garden when Eve was in the mood for a piece of fruit and with Achan and with the spies sent by Joshua to Ai and he still does it today. He has found we are more apt to swallow half-truths than blatant lies. When we choose to trust God and start walking in faith, Satan whispers that God can do a lot; he can even do many things, but not all things. But Numbers 23:19 tells us that God is not a man that he should lie. If God said “all things,” then that’s exactly what he meant.
I will ask you this question: Is God fighting your battles or are you going it alone?
Tom Renew
Deeper In God’s Word
Resources:
Ed Wood, The God of Second Chances – Sermon series
Chad Young, Joshua 8 commentary and study – findingauthenticchristianity.com
Victor Brooks, Victory at Ai – bible.org