What God Does When the Mess Is Our Fault

Has Satan ever told you, "You've failed, so God isn't interested in helping you"?

When the Gibeonites fooled Joshua into thinking they had come from a long journey, Joshua knew he should seek God's guidance. God had told them not to make a treaty with those who lived close by, but Joshua looked at their old shoes and moldly bread, and he and his men did what seemed reasonable. They impulsively signed a treaty with the Gibeonites who actually lived next door. (The story is in Joshua 9.)

Later, Joshua learned of their awful mistake. Still, he did not despair but declared the Gibeonites would be their woodcutters and water carriers.

It's true that their failure to "inquire of the Lord" resulted in a battle they should not have had to fight. The Gibeonites were being attacked and, according to their treaty, they had to fight for them.

But God did not say, "Well, you're on your own now. If you had only asked Me, you wouldn't be in this fix."

When we fail to seek God's direction and we find ourselves in a mess of our own making, we are tempted to think God doesn't want to help us. That is not true, and Joshua understood that. Soon the Israelites had to go to war, and Joshua had the boldness to ask for supernatural help.

This is the battle in which "the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to a man" (Joshua 10:13, 14). Even though Joshua had not listened to God, the Lord listened to Him.

God is much more merciful than we allow ourselves to believe. He is the great Redeemer. He can redeem any mistake we give Him.

Father, please forgive me for the times I have grieved You by failing to allow the Spirit to guide me. Thank You for Your redeeming love.

"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness" (Lamentations 3:22, 23).