A God-Conquered Life

"They said to him [Joshua], 'Your servants have come from a very far country because of the fame of the Lord your God; for we have heard the report of Him and all that He did in Egypt, and all that He did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon and to Og king of Bashan who was at Ashtaroth. So our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, "Take provisions in your hand for the journey, and go to meet with them, and say to them,'We are your servants; now then, make a covenant with us."

Our bread was warm when we took it for our provisions out of our houses on the day that we left to come to you; but now, behold, it is dry and become crumbled. These wineskins which we filled were new, and behold, they are torn; and these our clothes and our sandals were worn out because of the very long journey.

So the men of Israel took some of their provisions, and did not ask for the counsel of the Lord."
                                                               Joshua 9:9-14




When God called Joshua to conquer the Promised Land, the Bible records both his successes and his failures. In the verses above, Joshua (and company) failed for the second time (the first being when they lost at Ai because of the sin of Achan). The Gibeonites approached the Israelites pretending that they were from a foreign country and asked the Israelites to agree to a covenant with them. The truth was that the Gibeonites were located only 25 miles away in Gilgal and should have been destroyed by the Israelites since they were within Canaan. The Gibeonites intentionally deceived the Israelites by pretending to honor God, when in fact, their mission was to conquer the children of God.

The Gibeonites succeeded in this deception and battle because the Israelites did not seek God and wait on His direction. They relied on their own senses instead of taking a more spiritual approach. They believed the enemy rather than seeking God's mind, which landed them into a heap of trouble.

Joshua made a covenant with the Gibeonites instead of conquering them, and 3 days later found out that they were frauds. Joshua decided to admit his mistakes and honor his oath with them (which kept the Israelites from God's judgment), but this would cost them dearly in the loss of the plunder that would have been theirs and also through the long-term influence of pagan practices on their people. Compromise will always cost us more than we want to give.

Thankfully, the story does not end here. Joshua not only admitted his mistakes but he also allowed them to begin to work for his benefit. He put the Gibeonites to work hauling water and wood for the service of the tabernacle. They assisted the priests and labored as servants within the temple, which definitely was better for them than being destroyed. Additionally, God overruled Joshua's mistake and used it to give him a decisive victory over five kings at one time (that came to fight against the Gibeonites), which expedited him conquering the land of Canaan and spared him from 5 separate battles.

Joshua had both a strategy and a heart to obey God. But, even with those things working on his behalf, he still didn't accomplish his plans perfectly. He never quit, though. Through both mountains and valleys, Joshua continued on until he ultimately fulfilled the mission God had given to him. He conquered the land and then divided it for each of the tribes of Israel, just as God commanded him to do.

As part of his spiritual journey, Joshua had to learn how to conquer defeat, fear, and discouragement. At the very beginning of his story, God kept telling Joshua to "be strong and courageous". God knew in advance everything that Joshua would encounter and He was preparing him for how he needed to handle things. God's standard was not perfection; instead, it was relationship and obedience and perseverance.

The same is true for us today. Often, we tend to look at the things we are doing correctly and we can easily miss an area in our lives that the enemy is targeting. Sometimes the enemy comes like a roaring lion and sometimes he appears as an "angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11:14). If we are not humbly inquiring of the Lord, it is possible for us to be duped.

Like Joshua, our success comes when we:
                 1. Believe God's divine promises
                 2. Use sound strategies
                 3. Rely on prayer

We, too, must learn how to conquer defeat, fear, and discouragement. We have to understand that not one of our spiritual journeys will include perfection on our part. We have to learn to forgive our own mistakes of the past and know that everyday is a new start and that God's mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23). Each day we can make a renewed decision for Christ and live by the power of the Holy Spirit to walk in the ways God calls us to.

Seeking God daily through His Word will enable us to believe His promises and be confidant that even when we are surrounded by the enemy that God is still surrounding him. We have to peer out beyond the enemy to see God's army surrounding him. We can ask God to see with the eyes of Elisha to comprehend His power and strength in our lives.

We can ask God for His strategies to overcome what comes against us and we can rest knowing that He is with us and for us. Not because any of us deserve it, but because He is faithful and honors His Word. The plans He made for our lives, even before we were born, will continue to exist even when we drop the ball.

We rely on prayer and God's Word to overcome fear and discouragement. It is a daily choice to believe that God is who He says He is and that He will do what He says He will do. When we are submitted in every area of our lives, we will see God move on our behalf. Sometimes there is just a learning curve to really see the truth about the areas that have not yet been submitted. We all want to believe that we are fully submitted to God, yet there can be blind spots and generational openings that we don't yet see. Yet God is always faithful to show us if we are willing to walk it out.

Entering into our Promised Land requires that we leave some old things at the door because if we were allowed to bring them in it really wouldn't be a promised land. Self-flagellation, fear and discouragement are some of the things we must leave behind. There is just no room for them for where God is taking us. Also, don't continually remind yourself of old failures because God may very well be using them to accelerate your progress in this next season of your life!

When we admit our mistakes and walk humbly with God, He will continue to refine us and show us any areas that are not submitted to Him. We seek Him daily and inquire in all matters, and He will cause us to succeed. This is how we can all live a God-Conquered life!


           "A God-Conquered man [or woman] cannot be conquered by anything else."
                                                         A.W. Tozer