An Easy Mistake to Make!

"..the men of Israel...did not ask counsel of the LORD"
(Joshua 9:14)

Joshua made a peace treaty with the Gibeonites. They deceived him into thinking they were from a far country. Joshua and the leaders of Israel were tricked by the Gibeonites' old garments, mouldy bread and torn wineskins. This led to them making a mistake.

The writer pinpoints the reason why Joshua and the leaders were deceived. He says they "did not ask counsel of the LORD". That comment hits the mark! The Israelites simply did what seemed right, and God wasn't consulted. They either forgot to pray, chose not to pray, or felt confident in their own judgement and thus sensed no need to talk to God. They did what appeared to be sensible. But this was a mistake. The mistake later became evident, and "all the congregation complained against the rulers" (Joshua 9:18).

There's a valuable lesson for us in this incident. It is very easy to make decisions without seeking God! Have you done it? I have! We look at a situation, believe we know what to do, and implement our decision, AND DO NOT CONSULT THE ALL-KNOWING GOD. But let's face it. This is pride. Pride causes us to act independently instead of humbly seeking guidance from God.

When we neglect prayer we neglect God. We can end up making poor decisions which are followed by painful consequences.

The good news is we always gain when we seek God! By pausing and praying in faith we receive help from above.

May we learn from the mistake of Joshua and the Israelite leaders, and always consult God before making decisions. It's the way of wisdom.