God's Plan for Victory Joshua 8:30-35

A good battle plan can be the difference between victory and defeat. Great generals throughout history have taught us this fact. You could look at men like Alexander the Great, Napoleon, George Washington or more recently generals like Patton. These strategists were famous for their ability to out maneuver their opponents on the battlefield. You see the same scenario take place on the football field with coaches like Nick Saban and Bill Parcels, back when he had Tom Brady at least. Coaches like these can make half time adjustments that change the outcome of a football game entirely and give their team victory instead of defeat. We all need a good battle plan to achieve victory in life as well. There are plenty of books that will give you strategies for life and give you 5 keys to success or 7 steps to victory but before you read those I suggest you look at God’s plan for victory He has given you in His Word.
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The book of Joshua gives us the account of Israel taking the land that God had promised them. Before they could enjoy the promised the blessing though, they had to remove the lands current inhabitants. They had to achieve many military victories. Joshua 6-8 gives us detailed accounts of Israel’s encounter with the first two cities they fought when they entered the land. Jericho being the most formidable opponent and Ai being one of the weakest. Jericho was taken without blinking an eye and Ai defeated them on their first try. What was the difference between these two cities? When they fought Jericho everyone paid attention and followed God’s plan for victory perfectly which led to success. The second city, Ai, was not the same case. When they fought this city one man decided to reject God’s battle plan and caused the defeat of the entire nation. The one detail that made the difference between failure and victory was obedience to God’s Word.
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So, after the defeat of Ai, Joshua bolds and underlines God’s plan for success in the promised land. He makes sure that no one misses the point God has just made with these first two military encounters. “Obey the Lord and we win, ignore Him and we lose.” He writes down the commands God had given them and he reads the entire book of the law in front of everyone in Israel. Notice how each and every person is made to listen as Joshua reads the first five books of the Bible. The people need to know where they came from, how they got to where they are and what God wants from them from now on. Joshua 8:35 highlights this for us, “There was not a word of all that Moses commanded that Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, and the women and the little ones, and the sojourners who lived among them.” There was no one in Israel who could be confused about the difference between victory and defeat, obedience to God’s Word.
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The same is true for you today, real victory for you and your family is not found the newest book or strategy being pushed by whichever social media app you use. It is not found in the latest fad that everyone else is doing to get rich or become an influence. True success is found in your faithful, normal, ordinary actions as you follow God’s map to victory, His Word.
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I encourage you on this Friday morning to not worry with how you stack up against the family down the road, ask the Lord the show you how you can be faithful to follow His Word as you face a hostile world that wants to keep you from being obedient the Lord God who wants you to live in peace and victory.