Getting back on Track”
Joshua 8: 1-29
One of the things that many of us look for in life as a shortcut-a way to get something done faster without changing the end result. And most of these so-called shortcuts share one thing in common-they don’t work. For instance...
• We want to get rich and of course we want to get there quickly. So we do things like play the lottery which is usually a complete waste of time and money. Or we invest in some get rich scheme and we lose our investment. We throw all we have in one basket. Or
• we want to get fit... Now-we want six minute abs we want to lose 30 pounds in 30 days in their ads everywhere, machined you can buy, certain foods you can eat that will supposedly do all the work for you.
And again all of these shortcuts share one thing in common-they don’t work.
All of us have perhaps been riding in the car with someone a long trip, maybe even a family member when they say these words-hey I know a shortcut that will get us there quicker. And several hours later you are lost. You take the shortcut and suddenly you are so far off the beaten path that you wonder if you will ever get back on track.
The Israelites had gotten off track. It happens to all of us and it is always due to human error... In other words is not God’s mistake-is ours. Because we want something badly but not enough to pay the price for it.
The Israelites were on a quest for the Promised Land. God had done everything possible to help them get there. The journey was designed to be about 10 days but instead they spent 30 years stuck in one spot causing them to wait 40 years before they could now go when. God had split the waters of the Jordan for them to cross. They blew the trumpets in the walls of Jericho fell down but then they were going into the city of Ai; they didn’t send as many soldiers in his they should have in because they took the shortcut-36 of their men were killed in the Scripture says “the hearts of the people melted and became like water.” Achan took what he thought was a shortcut to wealth; stole 200 shekels of silver, two wedges of gold and a fancy robe but all of this ended up in Achan’s death and put the Israelites off-track again in their journey into the promised land. Causing Joshua to say Lord, why did you ever help us across the Jordan River only to be destroyed? I wish we just stayed where we were in Egypt! But we have made a mistake-especially a serious one we have a choice. We can just choose to live in the defeat at or learn from it and move on.
{1} To get back on track we must first of all remember that no matter how much we fail in life God will never forsake us. He will never leave us alone. Joshua was leading a group of people here who had slipped and gotten off track. But when we sin; we mess up big time, there is that whisper in our year that says-hey you’ve messed up before but this time you’ve really blown it. God will never use you again. Listen the same God who started them on this journey was there at mid-point to keep them moving and now He is still there. He never leaves them throughout this over 40 year journey. Listen to what God days to him….”do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. I am delivering the people into your hands.” Vvs. 1-2. This is the point where God reminds Joshua He is still there and always will be. And He is reminding him AFTER his defeat and the Battle of Ai. Morale in the camp was likely at an all-time low when Joshua was perhaps feeling insecure about himself as a leader. This is where God says to him, don’t be afraid; don’t be discouraged. Instead, move forward.
{2} It is always God’s desire for us to get back on track spiritually. To do this God gives them a plan. Vvs. 2-8. This is the plan.
(a) Set up an ambush behind the city.
(b) Stay alert.
(c) One group will charge on the city.
(d) When they come out of the city they will run away
(e) While they chase us you go in and take the city, then
(f) We will turn around and charge again. They will look back and see the city in smoke and with nowhere to go we will destroy them.
And it worked. They destroyed all of them and captured their king. God was doing everything possible to move them along so that they can possess the land that God promised them. But they had been going in the wrong direction…. they sinned, Achan stole the treasury and like a runaway train they had jumped the tracks. We used to say that a person was backslidden. It meant we were going back to our old way of life before we knew Christ. So God, in order to help them get back on track gave them a plan. You need a daily plan for your spiritual life because it will not just happen by accident. You should have a daily plan for prayer and Bible reading. Daily. Or you will not grow spiritually. You have a daily plan to grow physically right? You have a plan to eat? You perhaps have a plan to workout at the gym or some plan to get daily exercise. It is the only way we can stay in shape. You need one to grow spiritually as well. I remember when I was in seminary that one semester I was really overloaded. I was working 35 hours a week at one job and was a youth pastor as well and was also a full time student. I was in the library to supposedly study but was tired of staring at my NT Greek book so I laid my head down on it and fell asleep. One of my favorite professors came over to me and said you know David you’re not going to get that by osmosis. And you won’t either. It takes an action plan.
{3} God always knows what is best for us. A song Babbie Mason sings says, “When you don’t understand, when you don’t see His plan, when you can’t trace His hand, trust His heart.” God knows what is best for us but it is as though we sometimes think God is not going to act in our best interest. We act as though we are afraid to let Him handle it. As though we could do it better! He is the way. He is the truth. He is our life. He is our roadmap. He is the only One who can get us to our proper destination.
Back in chapter 7 Joshua got all discouraged and down, verse 6 says “he tore his clothes and fell face down on the ground before the ark of the Lord and remained there till evening.” The elders followed his example and did the same. Remember they had wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, so long that an entire generation of people had died off and they had basically accomplished nothing. All the time God was watching, providing safety and direction that they continue to refuse. And here God makes provisions for them again. He is the God of the second chance, a third, fourth and a fifth. Look what he does. He says in Joshua 8:1, I have delivered into your hands the King, his people, his city and his land.
Now I may need to remind you that God said this before the battle even took place. This battle was the Lord’s, it was neatly wrapped up in a package ready to deliver to Joshua. He says Joshua you’re going to take this place. Just like you took Jericho except with 2 differences. (1) This time you get to keep the plunder and the livestock. All the wealth you find-it’s yours. (2) 2nd difference-this time take the whole army. In the previous battle Achan sinned by taking what was not his to take. But they also greatly underestimated the enemy and overestimated themselves-assumed it didn’t matter whether they followed God’s instructions are not.
Raise your hand this morning if you have ever made the same mistake twice. Some of you are raising both hands. It’s like I know it didn’t work before but surely it will list. Experience is painful and it’s especially painful if we don’t learn from it the first time. You have heard the definition of insanity before-it is doing the same thing over and over thinking surely this time you will get different results. But the fact is you never do.
{4} The 4th truth. How we look at our failures may determine the course of the rest of our lives. If when we fail we allow that failure to become our focus we will never move forward again. We’ll stay right there-stuck in that spot. You see our failures are not a complete waste of time. In the process of inventing the lightbulb, Edison failed almost 8000 times before he succeeded. What if he didn’t keep pushing forward? We could be standing around the dark today.
The Israelites were stuck for 38 years in one spot. It happens, doesn’t it? But God gave His people a plan. A plan to put them back on track to get into and possess the Promised Land. Joshua would go into the valley while his men placed themselves at the N of the city and also at the W. The king’s men; in fact the entire city hurried out the next morning for battle not knowing an ambush had been set up. So the city was completely empty, unguarded. The people were ambushed so they ran out toward the outer part of the city and were met by the rest of the Israelite army. (v. 17) So they took out every soldier they had and then went to the city and burned it down. And suddenly they were one step closer to possessing the land God promised to them.
The distance of the Olympic marathon was laid out/set in in 1908 when the Olympics were held in London. The Royal Family wanted to watch the start of the race from their home. So the distance from Windsor Castle to the finish line in the Olympic stadium was 26 miles, 385 yards. That is how it was set. From this point on, the marathon distance was fixed. The first winner should have been an Italian named Dorando Pietri. He was the first to enter the stadium, but unfortunately he turned the wrong way. Rather than going right, he went left. When the mistake was realized, Pietri staggered and fell. He was in fatigue. He turned around and continued staggering toward the finish line. With just a few yards remaining, Pietri fell one final time. Sympathetic spectators and trackside officials assisted him to his feet and he staggered to the finish. Meanwhile, Johnny Hayes, running for the United States, was racing down the homestretch of the stadium. After a lengthy discussion by the officials, Hayes was given the gold medal because Pietri had been unfairly aided near the finish line.
A wonderfully run race was ruined by one wrong turn at the end. Finishing well is as important as running well. Some of you started on track and have gotten off. It’s just as important finish your race well as it is to start it well. So what will your next step be? I asked you at the very beginning of this preaching series this question-do you have a dream-a vision that is from God that you have not yet realized or achieved? Is there something-an idea, a goal, something that may even seem impossible that you know in your heart it is God who laid it before you?
