Israel might have assumed that the battle for Ai would be won by following exactly the same steps taken in the battle for Jericho. But they are directed here in Joshua 8 to a completely different strategy. It goes to show that you can’t make a program out of the way God worked in one situation that can be applied in every situation. Each new situation may warrant a new strategy and only God knows what is going to work. This means that you must keep in step with God. It is tempting sometimes, having experienced some great works of God, to run ahead and apply the patterns that you observed in these past works of God to the present challenges. Just because God did it that way before does not mean he will do it that way now. Or just because God did it that way in another person’s life does not mean he will do it that way in your life. Our mission will be successful not because we have strategies that always work but because God is always at work. We will only see that success, therefore, so long as we are in step with what God wants to do at any given time. It is not our strategies that bring success in our mission but obedience to God. You will keep in step with God so long as you are keeping yourself in prayer and constant dependence upon him; always waiting on him to bring clarity to the heart and wisdom to the mind.
Think about what challenges you face at the moment. Ask God to give you wisdom and clarity on how to proceed with these.
Read Joshua 8
