"Now Adoni-Zedek king of Jeruselem heard that Joshua had taken Ai and totally destroyed it..." (Joshua 10:1)I was beginning on one of the most famous stories in the bible. The one where the sun stood still. I'd never read it in my own personal study and I had prayed that the Lord would use it to speak personally in my life.
I didn't even get through verse 1.
That word "destroy" means the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them. It's to consecrate. To devote.
When Joshua had everyone in Ai killed I was frustrated because to me, it seems so wrong. So why did they do it?
Because it is what God required.
We must completely give to God- completely devote to Him- the desires of our hearts. Because it is what He requires.
Yes, it hurts. It's a daily struggle, but He is faithful that when we are tempted, He will give us an out. He continues to remind me the value of my waiting. That it is not in vain.
The truth is, there is something standing in the way of God's promises for our lives. That is what needs to be destroyed.
In Joshua's case, it was the men of Ai, and God required them to be destroyed.
For you it could be your love of money. A desire for a relationship before God's timing. A friendship that is leading you away from Jesus Christ. Whatever it is that is holding you back or standing in the way of God's promises for your life, that is what must be destroyed. We need to go Hulk on that obstruction.
Maybe we will destroy it, and that will be the end of it all together because God has something better for you. Or maybe you'll have an Abraham and Isaac moment when Abraham was about to sacrifice his only son, until God stepped in and stopped him, allowing him to continue to have his great blessing.
What is most important is that he was willing to offer his son to God if that is what He required him to do.
And that is the point, isn't it? It's our willingness to allow God to do what He knows is best. Even if it makes no sense. Even if it hurts like no pain you've felt before. It's our offering to God.
And what will He do with the ashes?
Only time will tell.
My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.
(Psalm 51:17)
