In my last blog, I asked “How is your walk?” Do we walk around unashamed of who we are in Christ and knowing God goes before us?
As we face the big overwhelming challenges of life, we know we need God and turn to Him quickly. When the phone rings and it is bad news, when the doctor walks in with the test results, when arrangements need to be made at the funeral home, we turn to God and beg for His help.
How about in the smallest of things? I know I must confess I often hold up my hand and tell God “I got this.” No need to bring out the big guns, this is easily handled… or so we think. The problem with that thinking is we don’t worship a “break glass in case of emergency” God. If He is our “all in all” then He should be in all, and we should be all in.
Our Old Testament friends knew they couldn’t overcome the mighty walled city of Jericho without God’s mighty hand, so they turned to Him and obeyed every word in His commands. However, they made the same mistake many of us do when facing much smaller challenges. They chose to move without God. “We got this! Look how Jericho worked out. We just have to show up.” The actual text reads like this:
“Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, “Go up and spy out the land.” So the men went up and spied out Ai. They returned to Joshua and said to him, “Do not let all the people go up; only about two or three thousand men need go up to Ai; do not make all the people toil up there, for they are few.” So about three thousand men from the people went up there, but they fled from the men of Ai. The men of Ai struck down about thirty-six of their men, and pursued them from the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them down on the descent, so the hearts of the people melted and became as water” (Josh. 7:2-5).
Ai (some pronounce it “aye;” I say “A. I.” like artificial intelligence) was a very small city, especially compared to Jericho. It might have had one stop light…maybe. It was so small it only had two letters in its name. Not only did they say “We got this, no problem,” look at what they didn’t do. No prayer, no Ark of the Covenant, no God-honoring plan, nothing was done in a consecrated, sanctified way. They tried to attack Ai like any other army would. How did that work out for them? They weren’t different. They didn’t go as God’s people.
If God is to be called on for our big things, shouldn’t He be called on for our small things? If we pray and make sure it is in His will before we buy that car or house, why don’t we do the same thing before we buy the shirt or shoes? We are called to be different, to approach all the things of life with a Godly perspective and a scriptural worldview. The world should have a different perspective of us. They should see that God permeates every aspect of our lives, no matter how big or small.
Fortunately God is the God of redemption and second chances. Josh. 8:1 says, “Now the LORD said to Joshua, ‘Do not fear or be dismayed. Take all the people of war with you and arise, go up to Ai; see, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land.’” Ai saw that God was with Joshua and the Israelites, even though they were not a big deal in the minds of most people.
The question we must face is do others see God in the small things of our lives as well as our major challenges, or do we try to tell God “I’ll call you when I need you?” The difference could mean missing out on the daily victories God has prepared for you. We serve a God Who is big enough to help you with even the smallest detail of your life. Why don’t you let Him?