Victory’s Battle Cry—A Study in Joshua Part 11—Victory Arising from the Ashes of Defeat
As we move on to Joshua 8, we must not forget the failures of faith and the sin that lead to the battle being lost in chapter 7. What are the lessons learned in our valleys of defeat that result in greater, glorious displays of God’s sovereignty over our lives?
picture used with written permission of Ronald Barba who hold the copyright. click on picture to follow link if you desire to learn how to obtain a copy.
Out of the ashes of our desperateness, blazes forth God’s victory in and through us. That is Grace Revealed and that has been the Gracious Love of the Gospel given freely by God since the very beginning of creation. The story of God’s Loving Gifts, man’s misuse, failure, and defeat, brokenness leading to repentance–followed by God’s forgiveness, grace, and victory. That has been the story repeated over and over throughout the pages of history.
The same has been true in the history of my life. So often we want to question what God has done. The truth is all He has done is to demonstrate patience, grace and mercy to all these foolish lumps of clay that deserve nothing. It has all been Grace. You or I would have said, “Enough” so long ago; but, not God. So as we turn from chapter seven’s shameful defeat of the Israelites by the people of Ai to the victory in chapter eight; we must strive to learn some valuable lessons of how to let God turn our failures into victory. Let us look at 7 lessons we might learn.
1. We must first of all deal with the sin and crucify it. That is what we see in the final verses of Joshua 7.
2. We must then “get up” from our bed of sorrow, accepting the magnitude of His Grace. I must not stay there and wallow in my defeat with self pity. Look at what God says to Joshua, “And the Lord said unto Joshua, Fear not, neither be thou dismayed: take all the people of war with thee, and arise, go up to Ai: see, I have given into thy hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land:”
3. Remember our victory can only happen when we put Him first. He is the only victory we will ever know over sin.
4. Humbly we need to seek to obey His plan for our lives.
5. Sometimes we must return to the very place we had suffered defeat. It is important that we allow God to gain the victory over the very sin that we had succumbed to when we were battling in our own power.
6. Remember always that our entire life is but a blink of the eye in comparison to eternity. Any sorrow, pain or tears experienced here are nothing when we realize the eternal glory and joy we will have for all of eternity.
7. God is Sovereign and His plan is for our sanctification so that one day we may look like Jesus. He knows that the only one who can satisfy our hearts is Him. He knows that the only lasting joy is in His presence. He knows that there is no one who can love us completely, fully, unconditionally to the degree that He loves us. He knows that we can never comprehend all of that and experience it if we had not journeyed along the pilgrimage journey that we have.
So, my assignment to you is to read chapter 8—this time they did it God’s way and they won the victory.
Are you in a valley of defeat at this moment? Sing this song of repentance Not What My Hands by Aaron Keys. Then, rise up in strength that is born from your weakness, righteousness replacing your filthy rags, with the might that is born in humility, and realize the victory that will then rise from the ashes of your defeat.
© 2014 Effie Darlene Barba
Artwork is used with written permission of Ronald Barba who owns the copyright. His work can be found at: http://fineartamerica.com/art/all/ronald+barba/all
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to any brands, products or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides regarding the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”