Joshua 7:4
So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men: and they fled before the men of Ai.
Failure in the Christian life is not a chance, but a failure to follow Scriptural principles that lead to the miraculous and success. Every person who failed has failed because they failed to follow all that God commands in His Word. God’s Word is more than just a storybook; it is a guidebook to show the Christian how they can live a victorious Christian life.
Joshua failed at Ai because He failed to follow what He knew to be right from God’s Word and from what he had learned from the previous generation. Joshua was a good man, but he failed. Joshua is one of the great heroes of the faith, but he failed. This goes to show that it does not matter how much success you have seen in the past, anyone is capable of failing in their Christian walk. Four glaring reasons why Joshua failed are always a part of the Christian’s failure in their walk with God. Let me share these reasons.
The first reason Christians fail is because they did right, but…. That little conjunction changes everything. Joshua 7:1 says, But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing…. There is that little three-letter conjunction in Joshua’s life that caused him to lose to Ai. It does not matter how much good you do; the little sin in your life always brings about failure. You may succeed in life for a moment, but sin always catches up to you. You may have seen great victories, but sin turns victory into failure. If you don't want to experience failure, you must remove any sin, because any sin is the beginning of failure in your Christian life.
Overconfidence is the second reason Christians fail. Joshua made the mistake of thinking his past victories guaranteed continued victory. Joshua thought he did not have to put into the next victory the same effort that he put into the first one because of his overconfidence in his abilities. Overconfidence in one’s abilities has been the downfall of many believers. Success does not bow down to you because you succeeded once. Success is only achieved by continuing to do what brought success. You must always stay hungry and work as hard or harder to see continued success if you want success to continue after you have experienced a little success.
Treating little things unimportantly is the third reason Christians fail. Joshua treated the battle against Ai as a little battle, and did not send the whole army to his detriment. There are no unimportant parts of the Christian life. Many make the mistake of quantifying what is major and minor in the Christian walk, only to find out that what they considered minor was major. Everything in God’s Word is important; there are no majors and minors to God’s Word. If what God tells us to do is unimportant, He would not have placed it in His Word. When you start treating littler things as unimportant is when you will find out how critical they were to success. It is often the little things that make the difference between success and failure; never treat anything unimportantly.
Lack of prayer is the fourth reason Christians fail. Joshua went presumptuously into the battle against Ai, and he failed. You will fail if you go into anything without prayer. Prayer is what summons God into whatever task you are about to do, and you cannot succeed without His help. If you start everything you do with prayer, you will always find God’s help is there to assist you to victory.
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