Have you ever gone through something in life that knocked you off your feet? Something that, whether you saw it coming or not, you weren’t the same after? 

I finished reading through the book of Joshua recently and was struck by how Joshua responded to a situation like that. At the beginning of the book, God speaks to Joshua and promises to be with him as He had been with Moses. God says: 

“‘No one will be able to oppose you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not desert you nor abandon you… Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not be terrified nor dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.’” –Joshua 1:5, 9 (NASB)

What an assurance! As we saw a few years ago in Just Say Yes, Joshua’s trust in God’s word started long before it was time for him to lead. Now, it was time to step into what had been promised.

Moving through the first few chapters, we see how Joshua takes his calling seriously and prepares the people who he is now responsible for overseeing. He commands the people in accordance with the instruction God gave him, but before charging ahead, he stops for something important. He tells the people to consecrate themselves:

“Then Joshua said to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do miracles among you.’” –Joshua 3:5 (NASB)

The promise was made. The people committed themselves to the Lord. The stage was set. Now, it was time for their next step into where God was leading them.

Into the Promise

One thing we sometimes overlook about promises in the Bible is that there was still work to do in the unfolding of them. While it is true that God does things we can’t, it’s also true that there are steps He asks us to take that He walks with us through, clearing the path in ways we won’t be able to in our own strength.

We see an example of this as Joshua and the Israelites approach their first battle: Jericho. 

Joshua had already sent men to spy out the land and now it was time to approach. God tells Joshua: 

“‘This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so that they will know that just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you.’” –Joshua 3:7b (NASB)

It wouldn’t have been an easy battle without God. In fact, Joshua 6:1 records that Jericho was “tightly shut because of the sons of Israel.” God was going to give them victory, but there was work to do. 

Long story short, the Israelites conquered Jericho in a miraculous way and Joshua became recognized as a leader who God had chosen just as God said. Surely it was smooth sailing from there on out, right? 

When Life Doesn’t Go as Planned

The next city Joshua turned his attention to was Ai. The people were confident about this battle. In fact, the spies came back and recommended that Joshua only send two or three thousand people because Ai had fewer men. 

So, that’s what Joshua did. He sent three thousand men to Ai, but instead of an easy victory, his men retreat! All three thousand men were forced to flee, and about thirty-six men were lost. The Israelites experienced an unexpected defeat, and as a result, the “hearts of the people melted and became as water” (Joshua 7:5b, NASB).

As I read that, I couldn’t help but wonder what Joshua felt in that moment. Was he shocked? Did he feel like God had failed him? God promised Joshua that He would be with him, and we don’t see any indication that He told Joshua not to go (more on that later). 

Joshua was dismayed. He and the elders of Israel fell before the Lord, and Joshua asks:

“‘Oh, Sovereign Lord, why did You bring us across the Jordan River if You are going to let the Amorites kill us? If only we had been content to stay on the other side! Lord, what can I say now that Israel has fled from its enemies? For when the Canaanites and all the other people living in the land hear about it, they will surround us and wipe our name off the face of the earth. And then what will happen to the honor of Your great name?’” –Joshua 7b-9 (NLT)

A couple things to notice here:

First, God told Joshua not to be terrified or dismayed because He would be with Joshua wherever He led him. Upon their defeat, Joshua becomes dismayed and questions whether God will accomplish what He had spoken.

Second, Joshua does something here that got the Israelites into trouble during their wanderings in the wilderness: He thinks back to where they came from and supposes it would have been better to stay in bondage than to walk through the challenges that come with following where God leads.

Both are natural human reactions, but God’s response is simple:

“So the Lord said to Joshua, “Stand up! Why is it that you have fallen on your face? Israel has sinned, and they have also violated My covenant which I commanded them.” –Joshua 7:10-11a (NASB)

God did promise to be with Joshua, but He also warned him from the beginning that there must be obedience if there was going to be victory. The Israelites experienced defeat because there was sin in the camp that needed to be taken care of. 

The Pain of Correction 

Another long story short, a man named Achan took items that were forbidden when the Israelites defeated Jericho, and he hid them thinking no one would know and it wouldn’t make a difference. But God knew, and it ended up costing Achan everything. 

We can get a little weird about correction sometimes—It’s not fun, but there’s another way to look at it. Later on when the Israelites were finally in the land God had given to them, the tribes east of the Jordan created an altar that to the tribes west of the Jordan appeared to be in rebellion to God. Immediately, the tribes west of the Jordan confronted the tribes to the east, saying: 

“‘Did Achan the son of Zerah not act unfaithfully in the things designated for destruction, and wrath fall on the entire congregation of Israel? So that man did not perish alone in his guilt.’” –Joshua 22:20 (NASB)

The correction of Achan’s sin was costly, but it instilled a dedication within the Israelites to follow the Lord in purity. The tribes east of the Jordan had actually created that altar to honor God and protect their descendants to come; they weren’t sinning. The lesson from Achan’s sin was so impactful, though, that the Israelites were quick to address even the appearance of sin because God taught them early on that the stakes were too high and the consequences were too painful to mess around with.

Godly correction that is humbly applied brings life, even if it’s painful in the moment. Hebrews 12 reminds us:

“It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? …For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. For the moment, all discipline seems not to be pleasant, but painful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterward it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is impaired may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.” –Hebrews 12:7, 10-13 (NASB)

Choosing to Get Back in the Fight

If you’ve ever been knocked off your feet by sin, whether yours or the effects that someone else’s sin had on your life, you know that you’re then faced with a choice: Get back up and risk being hurt in that same way again or stay down to protect yourself. The deeper you’ve been cut, the easier it is to want to stay down. 

Now that Achan’s sin had been dealt with, Joshua was given his next step:

“Then the Lord said to Joshua, ‘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. You will destroy them as you destroyed Jericho and its king. But this time you may keep the plunder and the livestock for yourselves. Set an ambush behind the town.’” –Joshua 8:1-2 (NLT)

Joshua had a choice: He could let the effect of one man’s sin keep him from what God called him to do or he could take God at His word and trust that this time would be different because God was going with him.

I love the words that follow: “So Joshua rose…” (v. 3)

Joshua chose to trust God and take the people back to the place where they had experienced loss and unexpected defeat, this time knowing that God was with them. And this time? This time the people were victorious.

Takeaways

Life’s challenges can be daunting, especially when we’re blindsided by defeat. Even so, we can trust that when we go to God in humble submission, He will show us the way forward. Three takeaways stand out here:

1. Defeats Don’t Need to be Wasted Experiences

What’s cool about the battle of Ai is that Joshua actually ended up using their earlier defeat in the strategy for their victory (v. 3-8). He commanded the warriors to flee again as they had done the first time, leading the men of Ai to believe they were about to win. Instead, there was an ambush waiting behind the city ready to fight once the men of Ai were drawn out of their fortified space.

It’s merciful for God to correct us instead of letting us run down a path that leads to ruin. If we’re willing to apply the correction, our defeats aren’t wasted experiences.

2. Listen to God

We don’t know if Joshua had any indication that they would lose the first time at Ai, but we do see in chapter 9 that Joshua ends up making a covenant with people he shouldn’t have because he “did not ask for the counsel of the Lord” (v. 14b). It’s possible that he moved forward trying to accomplish the promise in his own understanding instead of God’s and missed an important warning in the process. Regardless, we see how important it is to listen when God speaks. 

Along these lines, there is some sadness seeing that if Achan had waited and chosen to be obedient in Jericho, he would have been allowed to take the plunder at Ai, the very next city. God gives good gifts, but our obedience and His timing in the giving of them matter.

3. Get Back in the Fight

It can be scary, I get it. I’m working through this in a couple areas of my life right now. But if God says it’s time to get back up, trust Him.

The book of Joshua ends with Joshua preparing for his death by reminding the people of all God had done, telling them to continue clinging to God. There were battles, but at the end of his life Joshua could confidently say:

“…not one word of all the good words which the Lord your God spoke concerning you has failed; they all have been fulfilled for you, not one of them has failed.” –Joshua 23:14b (NASB)

When we struggle to take those next steps, we can trust that God will help us as we submit ourselves to Him. And, someday, we’ll be able to look back and see how God helped us through every one of our battles too.

Here’s to the journey!