Wednesday, January 13: Joshua 9: Running through stop signs.

 

Driving metaphors abound as I read this chapter. Another one that came to mind was “failing to yield.” Joshua, in particular, is the culprit in missing the Lord’s will on this one.

The Gibeonites, fearing for their lives, create an elaborate and effective rouse. They were shrewd. Joshua was not discerning. He didn’t perform his ‘due diligence.’ He didn’t listen to the counsel of others…

Verse 7 caught my attention. For all the times I have read this chapter, this is the first time I recall this slice of the story. The men of Israel said to the Hivites, "But perhaps you live near us. How then can we make a treaty with you?" The men of Israel smelled something fishy and they voiced their intuition but Joshua paid no attention. God alerted Israel to the Gibeonites’ (or Hivites’) deceptive plan but they paid no never-mind. They, particularly Joshua, failed to yield and ran the stop sign and they paid for it.

Last Saturday, I wrote about listening and following (I am still receiving my emails daily reminding me about that devotion). Well listening is precisely what Joshua and the Israelites neglected to do in this chapter. God was speaking but they weren’t listening.

Well, Lord, I guess You have a lesson that I need to learn that I am not learning very quickly. LISTEN and then follow. It starts with LISTENING. That is what Joshua didn’t do. He was impulsive and maybe too trusting. You offered a caution but he didn’t take it. O, Jesus, do I do the same…??? Do I run through Your promptings and miss Your way. Help me, Jesus, to pay more attention to the Holy Spirit’s voice within. Show me those areas and times when I am most vulnerable to miss Your voice. Teach me, Lord. Teach me that I might be a well trained soldier in Your army, ready to do Your bidding at a moments notice. Amen.