From Pastor Andrew’s Desk
|
Greetings FCCB’ers!
I hope that your August is going well. Also, here is to hoping that summer slows down for a few more weeks so we can enjoy the sun and the warmth a little longer. Perhaps you have been able to drive by the church this week to see the some of the beautiful landscaping that’s been done so far! It is wonderful to see how the Lord is preparing these grounds for fruitful ministry to the community of Boxford and beyond!
Last Sunday we looked at a very tough passage in Joshua 7 in which the Israelites were routed by the city of Ai as a result of the sin of Achan in which he stole the ‘devoted things’ intended for destruction. This passage brought up many complexities … God’s purposes are hard to understand in the punishment that was meted out for Achan’s sin. Yet, we saw in chapter 7 the holiness of God and the justice and purposes of God were abundantly clear. Sin brings death and destruction and can affect a whole community as we saw in the case of Israel in this situation. Going into Chapter 8, Israel is coming off a rousing defeat. Their morale is low and discouragement abounds. Because Joshua is the leader, he carries the biggest burden of this defeat. Think about your own personal life for a minute. How do you feel after a serious mistake or defeat in life?
I know that in those moments I have often felt great discouragement, shame and hopelessness about the future. Those moments in life can tend to cloud everything. And these are times when Satan often seeks to pour fuel on our wounds and in order to drive us deeper into despair.
Many followers begin to lose their passion for God during times like this. Instead of running to God for healing, direction and comfort, we seek other far lesser comforts and the peace of God is choked out. It is good to be constantly reminded that the Lord is the God who redeems. He can even use our greatest mistakes, struggles and disappointments for His glory and impact the lives of others. Coming off the defeat of Ai, God sends the Israelites back to the same location of that defeat. What a fascinating dynamic in that often the Lord will have us go back to the same place where we experienced great pain and loss and to lead us through His redeeming processes.
So the Lord speaks to Joshua in the beginning of chapter 8 and says,
“Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged…”
Joshua has to hear these two statements from God in order to move forward, because the Lord knows that he is experiencing both. Then the Lord gives Joshua his marching orders.
“Take the whole army and attack Ai. For I have delivered into your hands the king of Ai, his people, his city and his land” 8:1.
This 8th chapter is very challenging to comprehend because God is calling Joshua to take the whole city out. From our modern 21st century perspective and in view of various components of this story, it can seem too harsh a command. But remember from last week, that we don’t know the mind of God (Isaiah 55) and we are no position to be His counselor (1 Cor 2:16). God’s ways are not our ways and He speaks and moves in different ways in various lives and throughout history. But His justice, love, power and grace remain steadfast.
When we come to Christ, one of the things that we are
to lay down is our plans for our lives and
to surrender trying to rationalize and figure out every little detail of how God works.
When we do this on a regular basis, we put ourselves back on the throne of our lives, limiting God’s ability to do His mighty work. Often His call will not make sense, but that is the point. We can’t fully understand His leading- only He does- because He knows what is best in every situation. We lay down our “rights” when we come to Christ. We acknowledge that He is now our commanding officer. Joshua must now do what God called him to do in leading the Israelites to conquer the pagan and idolatrous city of Ai once and for all. That is Joshua’s call from God as a military commander of the Israelite people. It is personal to Him and is delivered from God.
What is your personal call from God since coming to faith in Christ?
Where is He leading you?
Where is He calling you to step out in faith?
Are you trying to “figure it all out”- or learning to trust?
Just some good questions for us to think about. In verses 2-20 we see the Israelite people set an ambush against Ai to throw them off course. The ambush works and destruction is brought to the city and everything in it. This passage can be tough to swallow as it deals with complex issues of war and suffering. There are many things in life that are so difficult to understand. We see so much pain in this world and so much hatred and heartache. Yet, I ‘ve come back to this thought:
without the cross of Jesus Christ none of it makes sense and all- it is all meaningless and it is all hopeless.
No other religious system has any real answer for pain and suffering. In every other religious system you are either to simply detach from pain as though it doesn’t really exist (Buddhism and Hinduism), or submit to a God that has no empathy for it (Islam). Christianity is utterly unique – while many of the questions of suffering on not fully answered, one thing is answered. God entered His own creation out of love. He died the most horrendous death on a cross out of love. And because of His death and resurrection, love and mercy all meet together and He enters in to the messes of our lives and redeems the most painful and awful of situations – from things that either we have caused or have been inflicted upon us. Is this passage easy to comprehend? No. Is it hard to comprehend? Absolutely. Is the Lord at work through all things for His ultimate purposes in the lives of His people? Absolutely.
So let’s go back to you and me. Have you made some big mistakes? Have you been or are you discouraged and losing hope? Well, I believe that this message is for you. We will be reminded Sunday that God can take the biggest messes and challenges of our lives and redeem them in ways that we may not understand, but trust His power, grace and love through them. He is on the throne, He is sovereign and He is good. Thanks be to God. See you Sunday! Oh and just a reminder that we will be praying for teachers, so please join us teachers to be prayed over in anticipation of a great year at school!
Blessings, Pastor Andrew |
