Joshua 8 – Brandon Hatmaker “God’s Plunder”
Monday, August 4th, 2008
“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.” – Joshua 8:2
There is nothing more important than doing things God’s way. It seems like the entire journey for the Israelites was about learning this lesson. I feel like my personal journey has been similar. I have had so many plans, so many selfish thoughts, and by nature… too often the plunder I have sought, was sought to take as mine. But the reality is, whether it’s pride, position, possession or even glory… it is not ours to take.
God gave Joshua specific details of the attack. He gave every step. And as Joshua followed, they experienced the success of the Lord. This time, God even gave them the plunder to keep. The exact thing he withheld the last time. God is clearly showing that He doesn’t withhold for the sake of withholding. He withholds for the sake of learning, trusting, and teaching us to follow His ways.
Father, it’s such an amazing place to be when we are in complete dependence on you. I recognize today that so much of that is out of fear, but I think it’s the good kind of fear. It’s a fear of your righteous judgment for my selfishness. I pray that you do not withhold your grace and peace, but even more so, your favor. Show me the areas in my life that I still make about me. Give me the courage to admit and the strength to let go. Amen.
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Doing things God's way has rewards for sure. The place that is a struggle for me is the confidence area. When I was younger, just a couple of years ago even, I had a massive ego. I was the best at whatever I was doing. I was the best football player. Then I was the best coach. Next I was the best special ed teacher. When I was working for FCA I thought I was the best staff person, period. My ego caused me to shift the attention from what God had given me to what I thought was making me look the best. The struggle is to have a humble swagger if you will. To have the confidence that God is using you and you will be successful not because of yourself but in spite of yourself.
ReplyDelete"Do to Ai and its king what you did to Jericho and its king. Only this time you may plunder its stuff and cattle to your heart's content." - Joshua 8:1
ReplyDeleteI think it's interesting that right on the heels of Achan digging up all that he had wrongly taken from Jericho, we see God giving the green light to keep the plunder.
I think about how badly Achan - now only ashes buried under stones - missed out. The best he could do on his own was to covet and bury a handful of things...and now, at the next opportunity, God freely gives the men everything they can carry.
No need to conceal, hide or bury. No need to be consumed by guilt and burdened by maintaining a secret.
It happens this way for me sometimes...I force God's hand with timing and purposes only to realize that had I waited on him, there would have been so much more coming so much more freely.
It really is all about trusting that God's got our best interests at heart. And from time to time, we even get to enjoy everything we can stuff into our backpacks.
Mike, great points on confidence...I love the term you use, "humble swagger." That's a daily battle for me - trying stay on the right side of confidence in myself and confidence in God working in me. Any "success" I've ever enjoyed is only because I've allowed myself to yield to him who gives me strength and ability.
thanks for your transparency guys. I agree with Tolerico... Mike, great term "humble swagger". Most of us don't even know when we think we rock too much. We ourselves are deceived. That's a dangerous place.
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