Former Blackout Artist

Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. – Joshua 1:8

When the Lord appointed him to be Moses’ successor and finish leading the Israelites into the Promised Land, Joshua was stepping into some really big shoes. While serving under Moses, he had distinguished himself as a man of great faith, a man of action. But if he had learned anything over the past 39 years, it was that he and the two million people he was preparing to lead through the Jordan River had to be obedient to God and do things His way if they were to be successful.

So the Lord gave Joshua his marching orders.

Joshua 1:2-9

“Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them —to the Israelites. I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates —all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

In other words, “Do these things, don’t get discouraged, be strong and courageous, and meditate on my Book of Instruction and recite it day and night. You cannot lose. I will not allow it!”

When I look back at some of my greatest failures in life, it isn’t because I lacked know-how or effort. It had nothing to do with a lack of money, or timing, or extenuating circumstances beyond my control. My failures had everything to do with not involving God in my planning.

For starters, I wasn’t praying and asking Him if this was something He even wanted me to do. I certainly wasn’t reading His Word and looking for Biblical insight to help me figure out what He wanted me to do with my life. Scripture certainly wasn’t on my lips, nor was meditating on it day and night. Oh, I was strong and courageous alright. Up until the first moment of discouragement, and then there was nothing but utter frustration, which eventually led to me simply giving up.

My wife and I are friends with a couple who we attend a weekly Bible study with. They recently told us, “We don’t purchase anything expensive without praying about it first. An appliance, a car, a television, a piece of furniture… we just want to make sure that God approves of our financial decisions.” That blew me away. And so I tried to remember the last time I actually prayed for God’s blessing before purchasing a big-ticket item. Turns out that I’ve never done that before, or at least can’t remember it if I did.

You see, there’s still some areas in my life in which I’ve decided to do my own thing and not involve God. I can be really selfish and foolish like that on occasion. And most of the time He has been very patient and kind to me despite that. But then there are other times when the Lord reminds me that His thoughts are not my thoughts, and His ways are not my ways. And those lessons can get real expensive, and in more ways than one.