Sometime in December last year, I was having my quiet time and I decided to share my journal post for that day. After typing it up, I changed my mind. I just came across it this morning and I feel like sharing it so here goes :)
This post is me sharing my quiet time. I’m using the 2014
Our Daily Bread. I was reading today’s
Bible reading which was taken from Joshua 7:1-13 and before I got to the end of
the reading, I knew I had to share my thoughts on it.
As I read, I asked myself, “what are the devoted things?”
since they are what caused the Lord to be very angry with the Israelites. I
didn’t really stop to research around what they consisted of, but when I got
to verse 4, a light bulb went off in my
head, and I started to relate some things in my life as being equal to taking
stuff which should have been devoted to God and turning around just like the
Israelites did when things went wrong as a result of this to ask God “why?”.
How many times have
we not as Christians gone before God to ask him “Why?” just like Joshua did? He
went before God, and asked him “Why?”. I
mean, God is sovereign. He knows everything and Joshua just didn’t get it! Why
will this sovereign God allow his people to be defeated and to run away from
their enemies? I cannot even begin to recount the number of times I’ve asked
God “Why?” questions. My journal will be a testimony to that fact...but reading
this today, I realised that just like the Israelites, I took stuff I should
have devoted to God, made them mine and when things weren’t going as planned, I
began to question God.
Sin is not only about the big things. Sin also consists of
me refusing to completely hand over the reins to God. Choosing what I devote to
him and what I do all by myself without his involvement....and choosing to
bring him in later.
God’s reply to Joshua is so telling! He said they have
devoted themselves to destruction! I don’t know if it was a play on words, but
it’s poignant to note that taking God’s devoted things amounts to devoting
myself for destruction. When instead of devoting my time to loving my Heavenly
Father, I devote it to pleasing myself, I am devoting myself for destruction. I
know it sounds so basic, but there is so much truth behind those words. The
solution was for the Israelites to take away the devoted things from amongst
them. God said they could not face their enemies until they did that. Father,
my prayer is for your Holy Spirit to open my eyes to the things in my life that
make it impossible for me to face the enemy so that I can take them away.
