Failure. No one likes it. Yet, it is inevitable.

They had taken Jericho miraculously – a victory, we still marvel about thousands of years later. This victory gave them the confidence needed to take their promised land and establish Joshua as leader.

Their next encounter, the small insignificant city of Ai, was supposed to be an easy victory. They sent a fraction of their men to secure this victory. And you know what happened? Failure. Utter defeat.

We have all been there. Failure. We thought we were doing what God said. We thought his voice was clear. We assumed this would be an easy win. So like the children of Israel, we boldly stepped out in faith, did the thing, and BAM, fell flat on our face.

Not a fun place to be. But what matters most is what do we do next.

Do we stay fallen, nursing our wounds, questioning God’s faithfulness and our ability to hear? Do we let the enemy win?

The children of Israel, questioned God’s faithfulness (forgetting all about their previous victory). “Why Lord, did you bring us hear to leave us”, they bemoaned.

This weekend, I realized I was letting the enemy win. I was nursing my wounds. I was not truly moving forward because I was hurt. Because I had failed. I too was bemoaning, “Why did you let this happen?”

And the Lord’s response to me was the same response He gave to the children of Israel: “Stand up! What are you doing down on your face?” Joshua‬ ‭7:10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Yes, you failed. Yes, you didn’t hear God’s voice clearly. Yes, someone was mean to you. Yes, this is unfair. Yes, you were hurt. Yes, this isn’t just. Yes, you got your butts kicked by a small city.

But STAND UP!

Take responsibility and ownership for your contribution to the failure.
Repent.
Get back in the battle.

Don’t allow the failure to define you or your relationship with God. We will all loose battles along the way. Failure is inevitable. But for the Christian, so is victory!

Stand up, my brothers and sisters. Victory awaits.