Joshua had messed up. Made a bad mistake and it killed some of his friends. He sent a group of men into battle without having direction from the Lord. They went into battle at a place called Ai and were thrashed. Many of his men were killed. (See Joshua chapter 7.)
Joshua was stunned. Fell on the ground. Began to cry bitterly. “It would have been better if we never came here, we should go back to the wilderness, it’s all so bad.”
It was whining prayer—can you relate? I can. This is just weeks after the great victory at Jericho. Now he’s negative, defeated, depressed, on his face on the ground.
Then God spoke. “Get up! Why are you lying on your face like this?”
Joshua forgot who he was. He was identifying with his trauma instead of identifying with God.
Trauma, adversity, obstacles are what we are up against. But they are not your identity. Your identity is in Christ.
Then God told him to repent. The people were to purify themselves in the Word and prepare for a new battle. Here’s what happens when we repent … we move from darkness to light, from negative to positive, from depression to courage.
“For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.” Colossians 1:13-14 NLT
After Joshua and his army repented. Put God’s Word in their heart. Renewed their covenant. Then God said:
“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
That’s the word for you today.
You messed up? Made a mistake? Took wrong direction? Had a stumble?
Paul said to the church at Corinth:
“You are a new creation! You are not defined by your past, your mistakes, your sin - Jesus has made your heart new!” (2 Corinthians 5:17 my paraphrase)
GET BACK UP. Repent, restore relationship, take his Word to heart, prepare for the next battle.
