Get Up and Cut It Off!

Get up, sanctify the people, and say, ‘Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, because thus says the Lord God of Israel: “There is an accursed thing in your midst, O Israel; you cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the accursed thing from among you."

Joshua 7:13

Did you just lose where you thought you were supposed to win?

Did God make a promise to you that seems to have just fell through?

Have you been praying for something and feel like no answer is coming? 

In the above verse Joshua and the people of Israel had just started their campaign to take the promised land. They had been hearing about this land for more than 40 years in the desert and they knew that God had promised it to them! There first battle in Jericho was a major success and they were reveling in that victory ready to take on the next town. (Joshua 6)

As they prepared to face Ai the people seem to have forgotten to seek God, instead they rely on spies assessment of the situation. Coming off their most recent victory the spies are a bit overconfident and tell Joshua to only send a small group of the men and Joshua listens. Of course this ends in a brutal defeat that sends Joshua to his knees crying out to God. (Joshua 7:2-9)

Generally on your face before God is a good place to be in this type of situation but it is interesting to see God's response in verse 10:

So the Lord said to Joshua: “Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face?

There is a time to get on your face before God and there is a time for action!

If you've been praying about something for a long time and you haven't seemed to receive an answer, it may be because you already received the answer. God may have already called you to action to take care of the situation and you ignored it. 

Is there an accursed thing in your midst?

An accursed thing would be anything that God either told you to not touch or to get rid of but you are still holding onto it. Do you have something in your life? It will hold you back from your blessing.

I do want to make one disclaimer. Sometimes we just have to persevere in our prayers even if there is not an accursed thing in our midst. I do not want to send you on a "wild goose chase" looking for whatever sin or rebellion is in your life. If you have it then it will be obvious to you. God has been speaking to you about it for some time now and you have been pushing it to the back of your mind.

That thing is keeping you from what God has for your life!

It's time to get up and cut it off!