I’VE GOT THIS

I had been doing well in maths and assumed that the upcoming exam was no big deal. A chilled out complacency settled over me. You might sum up my attitude as ‘I’ve got this’!

It turns out I really didn’t ‘have this’. My marks were the lowest in the class. The story of Joshua also shows how Israel assumed their success with a ‘we got this’ attitude. As they prepared to cross the Jordan River and enter the Promised Land in Joshua 3, they looked for God’s direction and followed the priests who carried the ark of the covenant (the ark represented God’s presence
with them). And in Joshua 6, as they got ready to attack Jericho, the ark was once again by their side (JOSHUA 6:6-7). So far so good.

But after God gave them the victory, a man ignored God’s commands (VV.18-19) and took some of the spoils of war for himself (7:1). Then Israel got things wrong again. The men who went to scout out the next military target returned and said, “Not all the army will have to go up against Ai. Send two or three thousand men to take it and do not weary the whole army, for only a few people live there” (V.3). It doesn’t look like Israel talked to God about any of this. Well, except for turning to Him after their humiliating defeat (VV.4-9)! Who knows what the outcome might have been if they had asked God first . . .

It seems like each one of us is a strange mix of insecurity and independence. But God created us to rely on Him for everything—for stuff that seems impossible and for things that seem easy. As we make it our habit to look to Him first, He tells us, “I’ve got this!”

Thinking it over . . .

What does it mean for you to be a “living sacrifice” for God? How can we always keep in mind that Jesus did this first for us? Read Romans 5:8 to be reminded that not only did Jesus give up His body for us, but He did so when we deserved it least.