Decision-Making in the Kingdom

Have you ever made a big decision in your life and been half-way there when you realized that you had never really prayed about it?

Despite the many incredible victories described in the book of Joshua, there are a couple of hiccups along the way.

In chapter 7, unbeknownst to Joshua, Achan had lustfully taken and kept for himself some plunder from Jericho, even though God had specifically commanded Israel to destroy everything and keep nothing as plunder.

So, flush with excitement over

their spectacular triumph at Jericho, when the spies reported to him that Ai was not worth sending the whole army--"We can do this one. It's a piece of cake"--Joshua neglected to ask the LORD if it was okay. The result was a spectacular defeat.

And when Joshua was complaining to Him about it, God's response was something like, "What are you doing groveling there? You should be purging your ranks of sin. Get up and take care of business."

Joshua's prayer was ill-timed. The time to pray was BEFORE making the decision, not after the fact.

A similar faux-pas occurs in chapter nine. The Hivites from Gideon stage an elaborate ruse, pretending to be from a far-away, non-Caananite land. The Israelites fell for it.

"The men of Israel sampled the provisions but did not inquire of the LORD" (9: 14).

In both instances, the Israelites fell into the sin of pride, the hubris that they could figure this one out themselves. The moral of the story: "Always inquire of the Lord." There is never a time we should not include God in the decision processes of life.

How have your decisions been made in your life? Do you retain the right to make most decisions and only inquire of God if you don't have an opinion, or it seems easy enough? Why not develop a new Kingdom habit? Inquire of God first and save yourself a lot of heartache later.