How Failing to Resist and Repent from Sin Impacts Others...

Yesterday, we looked at the response of the Jewish people as they struggled to restart their lives. After an unexpected defeat, a man named Joshua prayed to God in despair and disappointment. We saw that we often respond the same way when restarting our life does not go as easily as we planned. We often pray like Joshua prayed: “God, why isn’t this working out? Why is this so hard? I am trying to change; I am trying to restart my life? It sure would be a lot easier to not change. Maybe I should just give up and just live like I always have. God what are you going to do now? God, where are you and what are you going to do to fix this?”

Have you been there? Maybe you find yourself connecting with Joshua’s prayer because it is the prayer that you find yourself uttering over and over again. We see God respond to Joshua’s prayer in a most unexpected way in Joshua 2:10:

So the LORD said to Joshua, "Rise up! Why is it that you have fallen on your face?

In other words, God tells Joshua “get up. Get off your knees and stand up! Why are you praying to me? You shouldn’t be praying right now”. Now you might be thinking “well that’s kind of harsh. I thought we were supposed to pray. Why is God telling Joshua not to pray?” As the story continues, we see God answer this question and provide for us another timeless principle when it comes to restarting our life:

"Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. And they have even taken some of the things under the ban and have both stolen and deceived. Moreover, they have also put them among their own things. "Therefore the sons of Israel cannot stand before their enemies; they turn their backs before their enemies, for they have become accursed. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban from your midst.

God explains to Joshua that he needs to stop praying because Israel has sinned. You see, Joshua did not need to pray because this was not an issue with God; this was an issue with the Jewish nation. Now imagine yourself as Joshua. You did not sin; your leadership team did not sin, so why is the nation being punished?

Here we see the timeless principle that there is no such sin as personal and private sin. Our selfishness and sin affects and impacts all who are in our sphere of influence. And Achan, as a part of the Jewish army responsible for taking possession of the Promised Land, his selfish rebellion and disobedience to God’s commands affected the entire Jewish nation in their attempts to restart their lives.

You see, instead of following God’s command’s on how they were to restart their lives, Achan decided to pass by God’s commands to do what he desired. And since Achan was more devoted to the things he found in Jericho than he was to following God, he ended up placing the Jewish people in the position of being accursed, which means to be devoted to destruction, along with Jericho. Achan’s selfishness and sin caused the entire nation to be identified with the items that he had taken and were to be devoted to destruction.

And it is here that we see another timeless principle revealed for us when it comes to restarting our life. And that timeless principle is that to restart requires resisting and repenting from sin. The Jewish nation was able to restart their lives because they were faithfully following God’s word and doing the right thing, which created the space for God presence and activity to do what only He could do. And unless the Jewish people repented from this sin and destroyed that which was to be destroyed, God’s presence and power would no longer be with them to enable them to restart their lives.

And this is exactly what happens when we attempt to restart our lives and yet choose to selfishly rebel against God. The hard truth to hear is that God will not do what only He can do to empower us to restart our lives when we choose to live a life that is involved is willful and selfish disobedience and sin. God will not empower us to restart our lives financially while we continue to cheat on our taxes. God will not empower us to restart our marriages while we continue to watch internet pornography. God will not bring us to a place where we can live in the relationship with God that we were created and called to be as long as we continue to live in a way that the trajectory of our lives are moving away from following God’s word. To restart our lives requires repenting of selfishness and sin.

Now when the Bible uses the word repent, this word literally means to feel remorse that results in a change of one’s mind and heart. To repent means more than simply feeling sorry for something you did; to repent means that you feel sorry for what you did and the sorrow that you feel drives you to change something in your life. To repent means to change the trajectory of their lives back toward God and how you live your life in relationship with God and others.

To restart our lives also requires that we resist the sinful desires and temptations that we experience as we live life here on earth. The timeless reality is that God will not be present and active to empower us to restart our lives if we continue to live a life that contradicts the principles of His word. We see how the Jewish people were to demonstrate their repentance as the story continues:

"Rise up! Consecrate the people and say, 'Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, for thus the LORD, the God of Israel, has said, "There are things under the ban in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you have removed the things under the ban from your midst." 'In the morning then you shall come near by your tribes. And it shall be that the tribe which the LORD takes by lot shall come near by families, and the family which the LORD takes shall come near by households, and the household which the LORD takes shall come near man by man. 'It shall be that the one who is taken with the things under the ban shall be burned with fire, he and all that belongs to him, because he has transgressed the covenant of the LORD, and because he has committed a disgraceful thing in Israel.'"

God commands Joshua to stop praying and to start dealing with the sin. The Jewish people were to set themselves apart and come before the Lord at the tabernacle, where the Lord would reveal and expose who the guilty party was. And once the guilty party was revealed they would suffer the consequences for their selfish disobedience and sin.

And for the rest of Joshua chapter 7, we see Joshua and the Jewish people follow God’s command. Tribe by tribe marched before the Lord at the tabernacle and Achan remained silent and did not repent. Even when Achan’s tribe was chosen, Achan remained silent and refused to repent. Even when Achan’s family tree was chosen, he refused to repent. Even when Achan’s household was chosen, he refused to repent. Only after God revealed that Achan was the guilty party did Achan admit his selfish disobedience and sin.

And since Achan decided to pass by God’s commands to do what he desired, he and those around him would have to suffer the consequences of that decision. Achan’s entire family, who assisted in hiding the banned items under his tent, along with all of His possessions were destroyed. And the timeless reality is that our selfish rebellion and sin causes damage and destruction to all of those who are in our sphere of influence. Our failure to resist sin and our failure to repent from sin and change the trajectory of our lives back toward God has devastating and destructive consequences for all that are around us.

But not only does a failure to resist and repent from selfishness and sin have devastating consequences when it comes to restarting our lives. Tomorrow, we will see another aspect of the impact that a failure to resist and repent from sin can have when it comes to restarting our lives.

How have you seen the failure to resist and repent from sin derail an attempt to change or restart? How have you seen the failure to resist and repent from sin impact others?