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Israel was defeated at Ai and now is being sent back to that place of humiliation by the Lord. Read Joshua 8:1, see how the Lord encourages Joshua knowing the impact the loss had taken. The Lord said, "Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. take the whole army with you...for I have delivered into your hands the King of Ai. The Lord didn't need the whole army to accomplish his mission, God himself had planned defeat for the city. The whole army needed to be in the front row to see what God had in store.
Our success in this life is in God's hands. In chapter 7 of Joshua the people did not see success because they were not fully trusting God. Achan and his men were trusting I their own abilities. Now God is taking them right back to the place where they had been humiliated to allow them to see how their trust in God would be rewarded. It wasn't that God didn't plan for the nation to conquer Ai, they just needed to do it on God's way.
I think about the countless times I have failed in my attitudes and in my service to God. The Holy Spirit living within me would prick my soul and remind me of my sin. he would sometimes send me back into the same battle to try again rightly, and sometimes to offer a humble apology to God and to those I had hurt by unkind words to deeds. God has never let me wallow in failure and has Maeve forsaken His servant, though I have failed again and again. God reminds me that the battle is His to win. Myosin is faithfulness and to be quick to follow Gods direction for me. Any success in this life will be because God did a work either for me or through me; perhaps even in spite of me.
On the other hand for the King of Ai, success had inflated his estimation of himself and caused him to underestimate his enemy. The king did not know he had victory iver Israel not because of his own strength, but because God allowed it. He didn't know his demise was eminent. Success can be a terrible curse if it leads us to turn from God and deceive ourselves into thinking that we alone have overcome the odds and have established ourselves. God gives success to some hard hearted individuals who refuse to acknowledge Him as their Lord. The brief successes they have here will be all they know. Because of their denial of God they face an eternity separated from Him. First on earth finding only fleeting pleasure in their pursuits and never knowing real love or real joy in God's presence. Secondly, after this life they will know the true emptiness of their lives. The blinders will be removed and they will see clearly their great loss.
Not all success is cursed. Notice that God gives the city into the hands of Israel and there is great rejoicing; not in the accomplshments of men but the assurance that they are kept in the hands of God. No failure or success is wasted in God's hand. Notice the response to the victory (Joshua 8:30-35):
1. Offerings to the Lord. The people gather and build an alter to the Lord and offer sacrifices thanking God for the fellowship restored.
2. God's word is read among the people. The people wanted to hear the word of God and sought even deeper fellowship. They didn't just glory in victory, but they took time to consider God's instructions and the ways God has kept the people in the past. They then recorded the testimony of God's present work for a reminder of the ways God is still active in their lives.
When we give God the credit and acknowledge Him as the source of our success, we honor God and can know that our hearts will not be tempted to rely on our successes but will rely on God for our security. No matter what conflict we face or what pleasure we enjoy, God longs for us to see His hand in it and to adopt an upward look.
May God richly bless you as you seek Him and as you serve Him.
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