A Broken Leader
Leadership can be one of the most rewarding and fulfilling activities. It can also be incredibly frustrating and discouraging. The leader feels tremendous pressure to lead and when the followers don’t follow, it take a lot of extra work to get them back on track.
Joshua and the people of Israel are coming off their very first victory in the conquest of the Promised Land. They are still cleaning up from the assault on the city of Jericho. They are about to take on the city/town of Ai. They send spies to check it out and determine that they don’t need many. They encourage Joshua to just send a couple of SEAL teams to defeat the enemy. (I hear some major over confidence or cockiness.) They end up getting beaten badly. Joshua and the people are stunned. They felt that they were unbeatable. (They were unbeatable when God was fighting with them.) Joshua falls on his face before the Lord and crying out in anguish. The Lord speaks, but it was not what he was expecting to hear. Check this out…
10 The Lord said to Joshua, ‘Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? 11 Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. 12 That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you any more unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction. (Joshua 7:10-12 NIV)
After investigating, they found the guilty party. A man named Achen couldn’t resist a fine purple robe and some gold and silver that he found while plundering Jericho. The people were given specific instructions to take all the loot and devote it to the Lord. Much of the loot was destroyed, some was kept for the Levites to sort through. Achen didn’t follow the instructions and his sin caused the entire nation to be punished. When Achen was destroyed, the nation understood just how serious the Lord was about His Law and His instructions.
I’m so thankful that my entire family isn’t punished for my sin. I’m thankful that the Lord is patient with me as I keep moving toward following Him with my whole heart. It’s so easy to be distracted by the shiny new things and want them no matter the cost. I’m thankful that my stupidity over the years has not cost my family their lives. I’m so thankful that Jesus ushered in Grace and Mercy that spans the gap between my obedience and my stupid choices.
I need to learn from Joshua as a broken leader and fall on my face in repentance on behalf of my family and my country. Joshua was broken because of the hurt his people were going through. He was broken and humble before the Lord. The Lord lifted him back up and performed mightily through Joshua going forward. This passage reminded me to look inside my heart to make sure I’m turned toward the Lord and not shiny new objects that distract me from Him.
Pressing On!
Dwayne