"God's Best in God's Time"
But Israel violated the instructions about the things set apart for the Lord . A man named Achan had stolen some of these dedicated things, so the Lord was very angry with the Israelites. Achan was the son of Carmi, a descendant of Zimri son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah. (Joshua 7:1 NLT)
God told the people not to take any spoil from Jericho. It was all to be dedicated to him. Seemed easy enough to obey. It wasn't however. Achan took some of the devoted things & brought reproach upon the people. The next battle at Ai was a beat down by the opposition. Joshua falls down before the Lord & asks why God has done this? God reveals that their is sin in the camp. Not only did Achan take something that wasn't his, he tried to cover it up as well! And his sin found him out!
Was God being unfair by not giving them the spoil from the battle? Why did he want it for himself? The text doesn't say. But what we do know is God gave them the spoil from the next battle when Ai did fall. God wasn't holding out on them, his timing was just different than Achan's.
We are often tempted to take shortcuts to God's best for us. We tend to take matters into our own hands. Sometimes we think only about ourselves & forget about God's priorities.
When it comes to God's best for our lives, his timing is always perfect. Even if we don't feel like we are getting what we think we need, he knows what we need better than we do. The key is focusing on his heart for us & not being selfish. Trusting God's heart for our lives is not always easy but it is always best.
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