THE NARROW PATH TO RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD - DAY 55

by Rev. Robert John Cericola, Carroll, OH - EUA 

Day 55 

Why God? (Joshua 7:6-7)

Joshua 7:6–7 (NKJV)  Then Joshua tore his clothes, and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord until evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads. And Joshua said, “Alas, Lord God, why have You brought this people over the Jordan at all - to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? Oh, that we had been content, and dwelt on the other side of the Jordan!

After their initial victory at Jericho, Israel attacked Ai and sixty of their men were killed. Not understanding the reason for their defeat Joshua and the elders of Israel humbled themselves in the dirt and sought the Lord crying out, “Why God?”

Joshua 7:10–12 (NKJV) So the Lord said to Joshua: “Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face? Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. For they have even taken some of the accursed things, and have both stolen and deceived; and they have also put it among their own stuff. Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they have become doomed to destruction. Neither will I be with you anymore, unless you destroy the accursed from among you.

Had Joshua sought the Lord before sending troops to Ai, Achan’s sin and violation of the covenant would have been uncovered, Achan and his family would have been destroyed and Israel would not have lost sixty men at Ai. The Lord God kept His part of the covenant by defeating Jericho and He expected Israel to keep their part by destroying everything. However, Achan did not take the Lord’s covenant seriously, consequently he and his family were destroyed. 

Like Joshua, “Why God”, often becomes the cry of our heart when we do not seek for His will in our lives. Many ask the Lord saying, “God you said, I could ask anything and it would be done for me.” Then they spew out the desires of their heart and charge on with their plan. They are not asking God for His will but to bless their mess. And when disaster strikes they cry “Why God”, “Why did You allow this to happen?” Disaster can and will be avoided when we ask God for His will in our lives and learn to follow His instruction, instead of asking God to bless our mess and charging on with our desires.  

Ending Thought

Have you ever cried out, “Why God” after something did not go the way you thought it should? Have you learned to ask the Lord for His will and not your desire?  Have you learned to follow His instructions? Stay on the Narrow Path and you will come to know Him and soon you will be able discern and follow His instructions.