God’s Way is the Best Way

Introduction

What does God do after His people sin against Him?

I. God Restores Us

The entire Bible is a story of redemption. It is the story of how we failed to do what we ought to do, but that God worked to restore us anyway.

This story highlights that in so many ways, because if we will confess our sin, and if we will deal with the problem of sin in our life then God is faithful and just to restore us to Himself.

1 John 1:9 NKJV

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Now that the nation of Israel has cleansed themselves from the sin of Achan, God restores His people.

A. By Encouraging Us v. 1a & 1c

Joshua 8:1 NKJV

Now the Lord said to Joshua: “Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed…See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land.

What was the cause of their defeat? It was sin.

But through the grace and mercy of God they are going to have victory again.

We are Cast Down by Life

Don’t ignore what Joshua was feeling. He was the leader of this nation. He was given a promise that they would be victorious, but they just suffered and embarrassing defeat.

They lost the battle and they questioned God’s faithfulness…but when the truth came out they had to put to death one of their own.

Joshua was defeated. The nightmare of his men fallen in battle replaying in his mind…the screams of agony from Achan resounding in his heart. He was questioning himself as a leader, as a warrior, and as a man…

Application

We can get this way…there are things that happen outside of our control and it steals something from within us. Outwardly we survived the battle but inwardly we are afraid and we are dismayed, and we are questioning if God is still with us…

But God gives us His encouragement. He says to us, “Do not be afraid, and do not be dismayed.”

Why can we take that encouragement?

Because it comes from the word of God.

Joshua didn’t have the Bible, he communicated directly with God…but the Bible encourages us and tells us that God is with us even when life is pressing in around us.

2 Corinthians 4:8–9 NKJV

We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—

That is the power of God in us, that we can be secure and we can be encouraged by His Word.

Not only does He restore us by encouraging us…

B. By Regrouping Us

Joshua 8:1 NKJV

take all the people of war with you, and arise, go up to Ai.

When the spies came to Joshua in ch. 7, they said to him, “don’t send up everyone, just send up a few and this will be easy.”

But this time God says, “We’re going to do things my way. We’re going to send all the people of war against Ai.”

Why is staying together necessary for God’s people?

We War Together

Because we are in this war together. We are not several divisions or several units…we are one church with one mission that God has assigned us.

The best way for the enemy to beat us is if we go off half-cocked with everyone running their own direction.

God intended us to be a well oiled fighting machine that’s ready to stand together against the wiles of the devil.

When we go to war in division, we will be defeated.

Going to war together means…

Praying Together

We don’t face battles with Ai, but we do face battle with spiritual forces. And so we don’t fight with swords, but we do fight with prayer.

A person that doesn’t pray is a person that will never be spiritual, and a church that doesn’t pray is a church that will always lose the battle.

Worshiping Together

Sometimes people get frustrated when we talk about why church attendance is so important, but church is where we come to get relief from the burdens of the world.

When I was in my apprenticeship, the place where I was working built a state of the art facility for the apprentices. And in that facility they held classes for all the apprentices. So on class days, the apprentices got off at 11, we had an hour for lunch instead of 30 minutes, and we got to spend the rest of the work day in that nice air conditioned facility.

That was a day I looked forward to every week. This was at a time in my life where everything was a struggle, I was never getting ahead, and I was miserable at work…but on class day…I was refreshed because I had a break from that hot and dirty shipyard.

Well, that’s what church is for the Christian. It is our place of solace where we come and remind ourselves why we do the things we do, why we live the way we live. Worshiping together is how we encourage one another and regroup.

Serving Together

You won’t ever build a relationship with someone unless you work with them. Sitting in church and in Sunday School class won’t cut it. If you really want to know someone, if you really want a church to thrive…that church must serve together in one direction, with one mind, and with one purpose.

Witness Together

We have a message, and we are to be united in that message. Our message is not “come to our church” but our message is “let me introduce you to my Savior!”

If we are trying to build the kingdom of Providence, we are in sin. But when we repent of that, God will regroup us and make us His witnesses both locally and abroad.

God restores us by encouraging us, by regrouping us….

C. By Giving us Second Chances

Joshua 8:2 NKJV

And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king. Only its spoil and its cattle you shall take as booty for yourselves.

God could have told Joshua and Israel, “You disobeyed, now you’ll never possess the land.”

But that’s not God. God is a God of mercy, He is a God Who is long-suffering, and He is a God that wants to give you a second chance even when you fail.

That’s How We Know God is Good

Because He is faithful to His promises. If we will ask for forgiveness, and we will claim that forgiveness on faith…if we will keep ourselves pure from sin that He will establish us again.

And not only will He establish us again, He will give us all the spoils of victory.

If Achan would have simply waited on God’s blessings and followed God’s instructions, he would have gotten his spoils…but because Achan disobeyed God, he got death instead.

That’s Why Waiting on God is Vital

When it comes to getting the good things in life, when it comes to getting the church that we want or the life that we want, there’s no need to try and steal it from God. There’s no need to jump the gun and do what we ought not to do.

If we will wait on God and His provision, He will clearly and readily give us the spoils.

That’s When We Trust God the Most

We ought to trust God more than ever in the seasons of waiting and pain. We know that in seasons of pain that we are uncomfortable, but trusting that God is delivering a victory to us is always cause to trust in Him.

God restores us by encouraging us, by regrouping us, and by giving us our second chance…but not only does God restore us when we fail…

II. God Guides Us

This is talking about His providence.

What is Providence?

The Providence of God is the hand of God making sense of the twists and turns of life.

Going with the flow of His Providence is like rafting down the winding river of faith leading us to an ocean of spiritual victory.

It is simply just turning when He says turn and staying when He says stay. It is His divine guidance and provision.

What are the ways that He guides us?

A. By Giving us the Proper Method

Joshua 8:2 NKJV

Lay an ambush for the city behind it.”

Do You Ever Take the Hard Road?

Well, have you ever heard the expression, “If you’re going to be dumb you gotta be tough?” Using that math I ought to be the toughest person alive!

There is something in us that likes taking the hard road…and when God tries to lead us, or when someone wiser tries to lead us…we don’t listen…but then when we figure it out on our own we tend to say, “Why didn’t anyone tell me there was an easier way!” Then everyone is standing around saying, “We tried, you just liked taking the hard road!”

Well, when God is involved, what seems easy in the beginning is hard in the end, and what is hard in the end is easy in the beginning.

Easy in the Beginning; Hard in the End (The Example of Achan).

Think of Achan…it seemed just too easy to take the spoils! But it cost him his life.

Think of Joshua…it seemed just too easy to take Ai! But it costs him his pride and his men.

Think of Eve…it seemed just too easy to eat the fruit! But it costs her the world.

The Ease of a Frontal Attack

The people of Israel thought defeating Ai was going to be easy…and they got lazy and arrogant…and they thought they were going use just a handful of men because using everyone was just too hard.

But what happened? They lost!

Joshua 7:3–5 NKJV

And they returned to Joshua and said to him, “Do not let all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not weary all the people there, for the people of Ai are few.” So about three thousand men went up there from the people, but they fled before the men of Ai. And the men of Ai struck down about thirty-six men, for they chased them from before the gate as far as Shebarim, and struck them down on the descent; therefore the hearts of the people melted and became like water.

What seemed like an easy victory turned into an embarrassing defeat!

Now think of the contrast

The Difficulty of Ambush

Now that they’re ready to listen, God says, “get all the men and go and set an ambush.”

So, by night they crawled around in the darkness, no sleep, no rest…just a bunch of smelly war-torn men crouching low to the ground behind the rocky terrain two miles away from where they were encamped.

It was a difficult plan…it was a plan that required trusting Joshua and trusting God…but friend, what does it matter how difficult it is if there is victory in the end!

It doesn’t! When the victory is won…the sting of hardship is just a funny memory…but when defeat happens, the ease of laziness and impropriety is a curse.

I don’t know what the proper way is in your life…but I can say with certainty that God’s word applied to your situation will not disappoint you.

So, God guides us by showing us the proper way…obeying His instruction…but He also guides us by...

B. Giving us the Proper People

Joshua 8:3 NKJV

So Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up against Ai; and Joshua chose thirty thousand mighty men of valor and sent them away by night.

Those thirty thousand are the men entrusted with the ambush. They are people that Joshua trusted, and they are men that trusted Joshua…Joshua needed them and they needed him.

And in the church, God has equipped us with all the right people.

Those That You Love

There are in the church today those that you love to be around…

They are a God send and you’d trust them with just about anything in the church! They are wonderful people that God has sent us aren’t they?

Those That you Know

Then…there are those that you know…they’re ok. I mean, they could be better but they’re alright…we don’t have a problem with them…

Those that you Hate

But maaaan…there are some people here that just really work your nerves! Man if they say one more thing to me Imma slap em…Lord Imma slap em…

No Matter What You Think, God Gave Them

I used to be arrogant that way you know… I used to think about other ministers, “How in the world does anyone believe that they’re called?” I used to think that about other church members… “How in the world does anyone think that they benefit the church?”

But I want you to know that God has equipped the church and has equipped our church with all the right people for the job..

Now, some might be there to encourage you and some may be there to help you have patience…but they benefit you no matter how you look at it.

What we have is an army, given to us by the Lord to accomplish His work, His way, and in His time…and we don’t need to forget it.

He restores us, He guides us…and he guides us by showing us the proper way and giving the the proper people…

C. Giving us the Proper Leaders

Joshua 8:4–13 NKJV

And he commanded them, saying: “Behold, you shall lie in ambush against the city, behind the city. Do not go very far from the city, but all of you be ready. Then I and all the people who are with me will approach the city; and it will come about, when they come out against us as at the first, that we shall flee before them. For they will come out after us till we have drawn them from the city, for they will say, ‘They are fleeing before us as at the first.’ Therefore we will flee before them. Then you shall rise from the ambush and seize the city, for the Lord your God will deliver it into your hand. And it will be, when you have taken the city, that you shall set the city on fire. According to the commandment of the Lord you shall do. See, I have commanded you.” Joshua therefore sent them out; and they went to lie in ambush, and stayed between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai; but Joshua lodged that night among the people. Then Joshua rose up early in the morning and mustered the people, and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai. And all the people of war who were with him went up and drew near; and they came before the city and camped on the north side of Ai. Now a valley lay between them and Ai. So he took about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city. And when they had set the people, all the army that was on the north of the city, and its rear guard on the west of the city, Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley.

The plan is in motion…the people are in place…and God has given them the strategy for victory!

The Skill of Leadership

This is where the earthly skill of leadership is vitally important.

God simply says to Joshua, “Gather all the men and lay an ambush behind the city.”

But Joshua has the skill and experience he needs to determine the best route and method to establish the ambush and to bait the army of Ai…and so God, through His providential hand, has prepared Joshua for this moment to have the skill to organize and conduct the ambush.

This is Why Following the Leadership God has Established is Necessary in the Church

Of course the preacher would say that…but I’m not saying that by my authority, I’m giving it from Scripture.

Scripture tells us that God prepares His leaders in such a way that He can use them to accomplish His will in a way that is wise and skillful…and that always means showing them the proper way and equipping them with the right people for the job.

God May Operate in a Different Way

This is not the way that they defeated Jericho. This is not as miraculous as when they defeated Jericho. This is a bait and switch. It’s not an original tactic…and yet its the tactic that God chose to use.

When it comes to how we operate, we can’t always expect God to operate in the same way with the same strategies. What worked yesterday to beat Jericho may not be what we need to defeat Ai. In every situation…we must seek the counsel of God and we must look to the leadership to skillfully carry out the assignments that God has given.

Not only does God restore us…not only does God guide us…God

III. God Prospers Us

He doesn’t give up on us because we fail…He uses those failures to give us success. He uses doubts to give us faith. And He uses defeat to conquer our enemies.

A. Uses our Failures as a pathway for Success

Joshua 8:14–17 NKJV

Now it happened, when the king of Ai saw it, that the men of the city hurried and rose early and went out against Israel to battle, he and all his people, at an appointed place before the plain. But he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city. And Joshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness. So all the people who were in Ai were called together to pursue them. And they pursued Joshua and were drawn away from the city. There was not a man left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel. So they left the city open and pursued Israel.

Joshua and Isreal failed to beat Ai and they ran away.

But that very same failure is now God’s strategy to bring this nation success!

What Israel did is pretend that they fought the same way, that they lost the same way, and that they retreated the same way…this is an imitation of a past defeat the led them to a great victroy.

This is How God Uses our Failures

God takes all the experience and pain of our past failures and He uses them to give us glorious victories! Those things that once had control over us…the things that at one time defeated us are the very same things that God uses to teach us how to be victorious in His strength.

Don’t Cry Over Spilled Milk!

If you’ve failed…know God is using your failure to make you a success! He is restoring you…He is guiding you…and He is using you to accomplish His will and His purposes in the way that He needs you to accomplish it.

Not only does He use our failures as a pathway for success…

B. Erases our Doubts By Proving Himself

Joshua 8:18–20 NKJV

Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Stretch out the spear that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand.” And Joshua stretched out the spear that was in his hand toward the city. So those in ambush arose quickly out of their place; they ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand, and they entered the city and took it, and hurried to set the city on fire. And when the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw, and behold, the smoke of the city ascended to heaven. So they had no power to flee this way or that way, and the people who had fled to the wilderness turned back on the pursuers.

They were questioning God in chapter 7, and now they are being obedient to God in chapter 8…and through their obedience to God and to His Word, Joshua now has a refined trust in the plans and the instruction of God.

Have Faith in God, Not Faith in Faith

People get the wrong idea about faith. They think that faith changes them…but faith doesn’t change people. What changes people is enduring long enough to see God perform His work in their life.

And once God performs His work in your life, all your doubt will be erased.

You younger Christians may not have had a chance to experience it yet…you’re living life based on the testimony of those that are older than you…but if you will simply raise the spear when God tells you to raise the spear…if you will forgive when its hard to forgive…if you will bless when its hard to bless…if you will endure when it seems like God is not there, He will prove Himself in a way that will erase all your doubt.

All of a sudden you’ll go from faith that is weak to a faith that doesn’t have doubts.

God has a way of erasing the doubts in our life by proving Himself in the heat of the battle.

Hold on, trust Him, and let Him erase that doubt.

Not only does He use failures, not only does He erase doubts…

C. Defeats Our Enemies

Joshua 8:21–29 NKJV

Now when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city and that the smoke of the city ascended, they turned back and struck down the men of Ai. Then the others came out of the city against them; so they were caught in the midst of Israel, some on this side and some on that side. And they struck them down, so that they let none of them remain or escape. But the king of Ai they took alive, and brought him to Joshua. And it came to pass when Israel had made an end of slaying all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness where they pursued them, and when they all had fallen by the edge of the sword until they were consumed, that all the Israelites returned to Ai and struck it with the edge of the sword. So it was that all who fell that day, both men and women, were twelve thousand—all the people of Ai. For Joshua did not draw back his hand, with which he stretched out the spear, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai. Only the livestock and the spoil of that city Israel took as booty for themselves, according to the word of the Lord which He had commanded Joshua. So Joshua burned Ai and made it a heap forever, a desolation to this day. And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until evening. And as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his corpse down from the tree, cast it at the entrance of the gate of the city, and raise over it a great heap of stones that remains to this day.

We don’t fight against flesh and blood like Joshua did Ai.

But we do fight against satan’s oppression…and we do fight against our own flesh…and we do battle with anxiety, worry, and depression…but God tells us that we can trust Him and that He has given this world into our hands.

John 16:33 NKJV

These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Conclusion

Why does God do things differently that how He did it before?

When God does things the same way…something happens to us and we get arrogant…and we think that we have the answers.

We say, “We did it this way and it worked, let’s do it that way again!”

That might work in the day to day but it doesn’t work if we want God involved in the picture.

The reason that God wins the victory in different ways is because all the glory belongs to Him.

Joshua 8:30–35 NKJV

Now Joshua built an altar to the Lord God of Israel in Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses: “an altar of whole stones over which no man has wielded an iron tool.” And they offered on it burnt offerings to the Lord, and sacrificed peace offerings. And there, in the presence of the children of Israel, he wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written. Then all Israel, with their elders and officers and judges, stood on either side of the ark before the priests, the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, the stranger as well as he who was born among them. Half of them were in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded before, that they should bless the people of Israel. And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessings and the cursings, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law. There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded which Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, with the women, the little ones, and the strangers who were living among them.

Have you failed?

God wants to restore you…He wants to guide you…and He wants to prosper you.

He’s given you everything you need to overcome the past failures of sin and shame…all we need to do is submit to His plans and give Him the glory.