Joshua 10 - Don't Be Defeated Because of Your Failures

Today we will be moving on to Joshua 10. But first I’ll give a brief update on our grandson Luke and his very extensive surgery yesterday. We have been told that the surgery was successful with the placement of a second shunt that will work with the first one to continuously drain the fluid leak from his brain. I believe that this is the thirteenth surgery to deal with this leakage since Luke was about two months old. So, we do pray that this time everything will work properly, and time will tell if it does. It was a very difficult day yesterday for the family as Luke came back to his room in PICU in very much pain and a very bad external bleed developed from the staples late in the evening. Again, it is because of your prayers and support that the Lord gives grace to Kimberly, Chris, and the family to deal with everything. Continue to pray for Luke’s recovery, and again, we are so thankful for all our friends that have been there for all of us during this time. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!   Joshua 10 is a very long and interesting chapter! It is in this chapter that one of the greatest miracles that ever took place in human history is recorded. Joshua 10 also teaches a very important and encouraging lesson, that even what the devil and our enemies mean for evil in our lives, to cause us to sin, to make mistakes in our choices, to discourage us from moving forward, the Lord is able to use for our good. Remember what Joseph said to his brothers in Genesis 50:20, “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.”   Joshua and the rulers of Israel had made a compromising agreement with the enemy of Gibeon in chapter 9, and now in Joshua 10 they ended up having to paying a price to defend them in order to protect themselves. This is why God's people must remain separated from the world (2 Cor. 6:14-18). I wonder whether Paul had Joshua in mind when he wrote, "No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please Him who enlisted him as a soldier" (2 Tim. 2:4).   In Joshua10:1-5, the king of Jerusalem, whose name means "lord of righteousness," heard what the Gibeonites had done and announced that these traitors had to be punished. If a great city like Gibeon capitulated to the Jews, then one more barrier was removed against the advancement of Israel in the land. It was important for the Canaanites to recover that key city, even if they had to take it by force. Four other Canaanite kings allied with Adoni-zedek, and their combined armies encamped before Gibeon. The poor Gibeonites had made peace with the invaders and were now at war with their former allies!   As this confederation of armies and kings assembled, God in heaven must have laughed (Ps. 2:1-4), because unknown to them He was using these events to accomplish His own purposes. Instead of having to defeat these five city-states one by one, He would help Joshua conquer them all at one time!. Just as God used the defeat at Ai to form a battle plan for victory over Ai (Josh. 8), so also He used Joshua's mistake with the Gibeonites to protect Gibeon and accelerate the conquest of Canaan.   The mistakes we make embarrass us, especially those mistakes that are caused by our running ahead of the Lord and not seeking His will. But we need to remember that no mistake is final for the dedicated Christian. God can use even our blunders to accomplish His purposes. Somebody defined success as "the art of making your mistakes when nobody's looking"; but a better definition would be "the art of seeing victory where other people see only defeat."   So, don’t let the devil defeat you with discouragement with your sins, mistakes, and failures but remember our great God still loves you, forgives you, and will give you grace and victory for your journey today!   God Bless!