Joshua 8 // 17 May 2026

The God Who Restores - Failure Is Not Final
David Cason

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

I prefer that way because I talk with my hands. That was a great blog that Jean just brought to us, and what's really great for me is it was basically a summary of what I feel I've got prepared for you today. So yeah, thank you, Lord. But I am going to make you still listen to me because I spent all day on this yesterday. But this morning we're going to continue this series of Joshua. But I'm just going to pick up a couple of those lines that Jean or the Lord brought to us through prophetic, then. So we're a church that believes in the prophetic. We believe that God can speak in that way through someone. And some of the lines that Jane said there, she said, You're facing circumstances that you would rather not be in, but look to me. She then went on, the Lord went on to say, Be humble, seek me in the quiet places. I hear your every prayer, and I hold you in the palm of my hand. I just encourage you to just like remember some of that as we just work through what I feel the Lord has prepared for us this morning. So I say we continue in Joshua 8, and the title for my talk this morning is The God Who Restores. Failure is not final. And you know, it can be disheartening for any of us as people when we fail at something that we thought we would succeed at. Maybe we expect the job or the promotion at work, maybe we expect the relationship to work, perhaps we expect the prayer to be answered quickly, or expect the circumstance to change. And our expectations in life can be even more heightened when it comes off the back of other success or victory, when it feels like we're on a roll, those words that Jesus used, this sea of satisfaction, everything's going well, we've got this. And then suddenly we can find we've hit a place that doesn't quite feel like that. And that's exactly where we find the people of Israel this morning. So before we move forward into chapter 8, I'm just going to go back and give us a little bit of a recap. Um, Joshua has become the new leader of the people of Israel, and after 40 years of wandering in the desert, they've crossed the Jordan River, they've um and by, as I say, into the Promised Land. The first thing with that as well is it wasn't a crossing by boat. God held back the seas miraculously, as he did with the parting of the Red Sea, so these people had seen something miraculous and they'd walked on dry land into the promised land. But then before they any battles commence or any land is taken, God asked the people to consecrate themselves. And Scott spoke into this last Sunday. Go back and have a listen if you haven't. But the men were circumcised, and basically, before God gave them any territory in the promised land, he wanted the people to give him their hearts. Before public victory, there was private surrender. And Scott reminded us that God is looking for pure hearts, but that doesn't mean perfection. And in fact, Scott said a little phrase last week. He said, The key to purity is the consistency of our intimacy. Have I got that right, Sean? Scott. God wants us to relate to him, to converse with him, to spend time in his presence. And I watched a little video earlier this week, just happened to pop up on my phone, and it was a guy, he was a speaker, Christian speaker, and he said he was praying to God before he went to sleep. Lord, show me what prayer should be like. And he said he then fell asleep and he had a really vivid dream. And in the dream, he was sitting around the table outside a coffee shop, just him and God. Also, please, Scott. That's like Scott's idea of heaven. And he said that he sat at that table with God, they're both sitting with their drinks. There was no one else in the street, nobody else was there, but they just sat in silence. Just in that moment, comfortable in each other's presence. And this guy said he took that to mean that that prayer just meant proximity and time spent in God's presence. Not necessarily speaking, not even necessarily talking, but time spent with God. And as I heard that, it reminded me of the scripture: be still and know that I am God. Be still and know that I am God. It's an invitation to quiet our hearts, surrender control, and rest in the presence of God. That word bestill, the Hebrew word for it, it literally means to let go, relax, or cease striving. An active decision to release the fears and anxieties that we're holding on to, trying to control every situation. And then to know that I am God, this is an encouragement to shift our focus away from the chaos that we're looking at and anchor our minds on God, on who He is, on His presence, on His power. So it's a reminder to let go of anxiety and to trust in God's sovereignty. So God has consecrated the people, and then they come, and the first place they come to take is Jericho. And again, we've already heard that story, but they didn't take Jericho through some brilliant military strategy or by human strength or brute force, but by obedience to God's plan. Walk, wait, trust, worship, and the walls came down. So this new generation of Israel, these new people are under a new leader. They've seen God part the river Jordan, amazingly delivered them victory over this fortified city. Things were good. But in chapter 7, straight off the back of that victory comes defeat. They go to take Ai, which is a smaller city, and they feel confident that they can take it. And they send just a small army, but the men end up being chased away, retreating in defeat. 36 of the men are killed, and the people are now huddled together, worried that they are now in enemy territory, and word of their defeat might spread. But before that first attempt to take the city of Ai, they don't seek God and they underestimate the enemy. And crucially, Katie shared this in Deal last Sunday, there was also hidden with the camp within the camp was Achan's sin. And that hidden sin caused damage. Achan had taken devoted things from Jericho and directly disobeyed what God had told them not to take any plunder from the Jericho for themselves. You see, God had asked the people to be consecrated themselves, to be pure. But even in that very first capture of the first city, already there had been corruption and disobedience. Achan and his family were killed as a result in the Valley of Achor, which is the valley of troubles or distress. But last week again, Katie reminded us that the Lord later calls the Valley of Akor the doorway of hope. And that's where we land today. We're at the doorway of hope. And in fact, I'd even go as far as saying, I really believe the Lord wants some of us this morning to step through the doorway of hope. Because chapter eight doesn't start with rejection or abandonment or rest but instead with restoration. And in chapter eight, as we go on this morning, you're going to see that failure is not final. God restores his people, God teaches us through the seasons, and victory comes when we walk in God's way, in God's timing, and with our hearts aligned. So I'm just going to get the scripture up, please, guys. It's um Joshua 8. I'm just going to read verses 1 to 2, although we'll we'll consider the whole chapter. But Joshua 8, verses 1 to 2. Then the Lord said to Joshua, Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged. Take the whole army with you and go up and attack I, for I have delivered into your hands the king of I, his people, his city and his land. You shall do to I and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, except you may carry off their plunder and livestock for yourselves. Set an ambush behind the city. You might recall when we go right back a few weeks that in the very beginning of the book of Joshua there's a call to courage. In chapter one, three times God says to Joshua, Be strong and courageous. And now, after this defeat, the first thing the Lord says is, Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged. Which is kind of the same thing, isn't it? In reverse. You know, and we also read previously that after the failure and defeat at I, Joshua has fallen face down on the ground before God. And he even says, Lord, why did you bring us into this land only to be destroyed? If only we'd stayed on the other side of the river Jordan. It sort of shows you how discouraged Joshua was. He's distraught. Thirty-six men have died, being chased away. I guess the first people under his leadership that have died in battle. And within weeks of entering the promised land, they'd already experienced defeat. And now in this camp, they are anxious that the word will spread. They're in enemy territory, that they're going to be destroyed, they're going to be wiped out. But God speaks reassurance. Don't be afraid, don't be discouraged. And the first point I just want to make this morning that I believe the Lord wants people to hear in this place today is don't believe that failure disqualifies you forever. Throughout Scripture, we see a God that restores. Abraham failed, Moses failed, David failed, Peter failed, the disciples failed, even Joshua failed really in this first attack. Yet God continued to work through these people as they surrendered to him. Just the word that we had from Gene earlier had that very phrase in it. If you just surrender to me, the issue is not whether or not we will fail, because God understands our human limitations. It's whether we will return to God in humility, come back before him in honesty and surrender. I also think there are people here today that need to hear this: that God still speaks after failure. You may have made mistakes, you may have lost your confidence, you might have been wandering for a period and feel spiritually dry and far from God. But if your heart is turned toward him, God is not finished with you. We were singing a song earlier, he is not done yet. So I want to quickly share with you what happens in the rest of chapter 8. So Joshua commands 30,000 men, and they go and go by night and they wait in ambush just outside this city of Ai. Bear in mind the first time he only sent 3,000 people. Here he sends 30,000 and has them hiding in ambush. Then he takes the whole army with him towards Ai, and another 5,000 go and hide somewhere else in ambush. And then finally the remainder of the army turn up in front of Ai, looking like the force that's coming to attack the city. And then the king of Ai and the men, they came come out to meet them, and as the battle commences, Joshua tells the army to run in defeat. Again, they pretend to retreat like they had done the first time. So the king of Ai and all the soldiers, they pursue the Israelites, thinking, yeah, we've got them on the run the second time. At that point, the Lord says to Joshua, Hold up your spear towards the city. So he holds his spear out towards Ai, which is just a signal at that point, then for the hidden armies to attack the city. By which point we read there are no men left into the city to defend it at all. So the men take it, they burn it, and the soldiers and the king of I look back and see their city in flames. And as they return, they have the Israel, army of Israel chasing them in one direction, and they walk right back to the men, then leaving the city facing the other, and they're completely destroyed. There are a few more lessons that we can learn from these two attempts to attack I. And the first one was that the first attempt was built on assumption and expectation. As I say, Joshua only sent 3,000 men the first time. They just believe it's going to be an easy task. They underestimate the battle. And then there is also Achan's hidden sin polluting the people, stopping God's will from being worked out because it's not been confessed and dealt with. They don't seek God after Jericho, and their confidence has become self-reliance. And so another thing I felt led to say this morning, you know, just when because we come to faith, just because we are Christians doesn't mean that every direction we walk in is going to automatically follow God's blessing. It is a mistake to think that we can just make decisions without prayer, to pursue relationships without wisdom, to chase opportunities without discernment, to move ahead with something just because it looks good rather than waiting for God to say go. Our success in one season doesn't remove our dependency for the next. Another point, Jericho had been won through marching and obedience, but God didn't just repeat the same strategy at I. You know, the Lord is not formulaic. We can't say to God, Lord, if I do X and Y, I'll just get Z. It doesn't work that way. We so often want God to tell us what's next. Why, Lord? Why is this happening? What's next? Where are we going? But He's just saying, Walk with me. This is again touches on some of what Scott was bringing last week. It's dependence, proximity, relationship with God. That's the important thing. The outcome is secondary. Proverbs 3, verses 5 to 6 says this trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, submit to him, and he will make your path straight. I've looked at those verses probably hundreds of times, and I think I've always focused on the trust in the Lord, lean not on my own understanding. And I'm kind of fairly happy with that. My own understanding's limited. I'll trust in the Lord. But as I read that yesterday, the bit that really struck me was trust in the Lord with all your heart. Doing something with all our heart means putting our absolute strongest passion, sincerity, undivided commitment into it. It means acting from the deepest core without holding anything back. With all our heart, trusting the Lord with all our heart, every area of our life, every decision, every season. And then the other point that I wanted to pick out for today, which again the Lord brought through that word with Gene, was that God never wastes a season. Joshua now leads people into victory in the same place they'd just experienced defeat. The place of defeat becomes the place of victory. And I'm sure many of us will relate to this feeling that the Lord even spoke through that word of wanting to just the Lord to just remove a difficult season. Take it away immediately, Lord. But often God is producing something in us through these difficult times. Romans 8 tells us God works all things together for the good of those who love Him. Not all things are good, but God can redeem all things for good. You know, and as I was looking back and studying yesterday, I was thinking about those two different victories, Jericho and then I, and I thought to myself, I wonder which of those two things actually taught the people the most. Because the victory in Jericho was an amazing demonstration of God's power. The people just did what he said, marched around the city, the walls fell. A bit of walking, a bit of appraise, walls down. But in some ways that kind of came quite easy. But the defeat at I exposed something that perhaps would have stayed hidden in the victory at Jericho. And success can sometimes hide things that failure reveals. Joshua's first prayer after that defeat was, oh, we should have stayed back where we were. This is the bold and courageous Joshua. Looking backwards already, through that defeat, the people learnt humility, obedience, dependency, holiness, patience, and the understanding that they needed to seek and follow the will of God. And so I believe there are some people here today that need to hear, as we walk with God, no season is wasted. Not the waiting season, not the grieving season, not the confusing season, and not even the season of failure. God is not interested in just getting us somewhere quickly, He's forming Christ in us, drawing us closer, changing us. But God is with us in every season. We need to lean into Him, trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. And as I was attacked the second time, and Joshua pretended to retreat and run away, the enemy assumed that once again Israel was faltering. Once again they had the upper hand. But God was about to restore things, and that's still true for us today. It's part of the gospel message. Jesus does not just forgive our sins, but he restores us. He takes us into purpose. When Jesus went to the cross, it looked like defeat. But three days later, resurrection turned what seemed like defeat into the ultimate victory. The kingdom of God is all about restoration. And I think when I've you know met people over many years, some of the most bold and courageous Christians are not the people that have never failed. Often the people who have the deepest faith are those who know how much they needed to be forgiven. The people that have encountered and experienced that restoring grace of God. The other thing that the people learned that day was that the promised land was not going to be gained by their effort. It wasn't going to be taken by their self-confidence, their human strength, but just by dependence on God. And in a similar way, the Christian life is not about I will try harder and then I'll become victorious. I came across some texts that were pulled together from a Charles Spurgeon sermon, and I'm just going to read it to you because he's much more eloquent and well studied than I am. But he says this the Christian life is not sustained by your strength, your discipline, or your ability to hold yourself together. It is sustained by Christ. Many begin the race looking to themselves, trusting their feelings or spiritual performance, but peace is found when the eyes of faith are fixed on Jesus alone. He is not a distant saviour who abandons his sheep in weakness, he is a faithful high priest who keeps, perseveres, and intercedes for his people even when they tremble. The same Christ who called you is the Christ who will carry you. The same hand that saved you is the same hand that will not let you go. Walk with him daily, look to him constantly, expect help from him boldly. Not because you are strong, but because he is steadfast. So this morning, I just want to encourage us whatever we've been through. Maybe that word that Gene brought was for some of us in the circumstances that we find ourselves in. But we can walk through that door of hope today. Because God forgives and he restores. Our failure is not final. We can know his forgiveness, his grace, and we can move forward into victory. Perhaps the team, Rachel, will just come up now. And I don't know where you are this morning. I don't know if any of that has spoken to you. Maybe you've even been in a time of just wandering in the wilderness. But I feel like the Lord is saying this morning it's time to step back in the right direction that God has for your life. And we don't have to perform, we just have to simply and honestly come before Him. Sit with Him, be in His presence, and let Him just that grace of God just work in our lives to take us in a new direction. If you want prayer this morning, I just encourage you to come here. And do you know there'll be those that will pray? But you're not in this alone. We're all in it together. We all fail, we all fall short of God's glorious ideal. But failure is not final, and a God is a God that restores.