Day 2 – Joshua 5:1

5         Now when all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the coast heard how the Lord had dried up the Jordan before the Israelites until we had crossed over, their hearts melted and they no longer had the courage to face the Israelites. ^[1]

As I look back over this past year, I am pointedly aware of my successes and failures. The successes are no problem. I can easily give God the glory for each of them. The failures are another thing altogether. Some of my failures, perhaps even most, were the result of things I had left undone or things I did wrong. I don’t like failure. It frustrates me to no end. I will go out of my way to avoid failure if I can. That presents a problem. The moment I begin to avoid failure, at all costs, I also begin to miss out on the hidden blessings God has in store for me. Not one of us will escape failure no matter how earnestly we try. The writer of Proverbs tells us that a righteous man falls down seven times, but gets back up (Proverbs 24:16). As much as I despise failure, I refuse to allow my fear of it to paralyze me in this New Year, and I do not want it to paralyze you either.

The one lone verse we read today is taken from the account of Joshua having led the people across the Jordan River into the Promised Land. Their crossing was just as miraculous as the crossing of the Red Sea forty years earlier, and it got the attention of the occupants of the land they were going in to possess. Their enemy, the very ones they were going to have to face, if they were to occupy the land, were completely demoralized to the point that they lost their will to fight.

One of the reasons I find myself afraid of failure is because some of the opposition I encounter comes from enemies that are trying to stop me, but what I forget is I am already victorious and they are already defeated. We only find ourselves on tentative ground when we operate in our own strength and power, but when we walk in obedience to that which God has called us, though it seems impossible and insurmountable we are victorious. God will never call us to something He does not already have in hand. Just as there was no need for the Israelites to fear the Amorites and the Canaanites they would encounter in this new land, so there is no need for us to fear any enemy that would seek to put obstacles to our success before us because EVERY ENEMY WE WILL FACE IN 2014 IS ALREADY DEFEATED.

Dear Lord, thank You for walking with me in 2013. Thank You for keeping me through every test and trial so that I am able to remain standing today. I do now commit myself to serve yYou with greater fervor and zeal. Reassure me today that I have nothing to fear because You are with me, and enable me to know that every enemy I will face is already defeated in Jesus’ name. Amen.