Joshua 9

I realized that one of the things that I'm tempted to do through this blog is to write little mini-sermons. Now while that's not a bad thing, I think I can get caught up in writing about what I think others need to hear rather than what God is saying to me.

Reading some of my brothers' blogs has inspired me to make this a bit more raw. So here goes...

"So the men took some of their provisions, but did not ask counsel from the Lord. And Joshua made peace with them...." (9:14-15)

Joshua and his generals were in the middle of a war when some of their enemies came up with a plan. They would disguise themselves as people from a far away land and come to Joshua's camp. There they would say that they had heard of how great Joshua was and try to get him to sign a peace treaty with them.

The plan works because not only do they really look like foreigners who've traveled a far distance, but also because Joshua does not "ask counsel from the Lord."

I do this as well. I start off with the right intention, I start off by putting my trust in God and listening to him, but then, along the way, I take over. I start planning and doing things while losing touch with why I'm doing them in the first place.

One way that I'm seeing this in myself is in how I see people. I often think the worst of people. The upside of this is that I rarely get disappointed when they do something sinful. But the downside is that I easily get discouraged in ministry. I start to think that no matter how many sermons I preach, no matter how many bible studies I lead, nobody's changing, that everyone will always stay stuck in their same sins, their same way of thinking.

But the truth is, even when I don't feel like it, I'm actually seeing a lot of change in people, and it's all God. The truth is it's God who called me into ministry in the first place, and if he's called me, then he's going to be the one to transform people, not me. I've got to remember to focus not on trying to change people, but on being faithful to him, risking in faith, and telling people about him.