When Thoughts Don't Align with Truth

POINT OF REFERENCE: Joshua 7:7 Almighty, Lord, why did You bring these people across the Jordan River? Was it to hand us over to the Amorites so that they could destroy us? I wish we had been content to live on the other side of the Jordan!
Joshua is the new leader of Israel at this point and has met with huge successes. The nation has crossed the Jordan River—ON DRY GROUND DURING FLOOD SEASON—after a 40-year hiatus in the wilderness. They’d wasted 40 years out of sheer disobedience to God. But all that is changing. They’re now in the Promised Land and had their first military victory. God took down the walls of Jericho so Israel could prevail over their foes. God was bringing judgment upon the people of Canaan for their many years of outright sin and rebellion against the one true God. The Lord was using Joshua and the army of Israel to accomplish His purposes. Joshua should have been higher than a kite in March. He wasn’t.
My degree in psychology (yes, really, I DO have a degree in psychology) gives me just enough insight to be dangerous. My own struggle with mild depression gives me some first-hand experience on the subject as well. And my training and experience tell me Joshua was depressed. Fresh-on-the-heels of two major advancements (the Jordan crossing and the Jericho victory), Israel suffered a major set-back. The puny city of Ai had kicked their tails and cost the lives of 36 soldiers. For the first time an Israeli soldier had shed his blood fighting for his country. Beyond the loss of life was the sense of despair. Look at how the Bible describes it: Israel’s troops lost heart and were scared stiff. The old fear their parents/grandparents had lived with resurfaced. To Joshua things appeared hopeless. I wish we had been content to live on the other side of the Jordan!
No doubt Joshua is second-guessing his leadership skills. Perhaps he’s even questioning the wisdom of following God and crossing the Jordan. It’s entirely possible that he flashed-back to a day 40 years ago when 10 of the 12 spies talked the people out of attempting to conquer Canaan and had a few fleeting thoughts that “maybe they were right after all.”
Look back to Joshua 1:3 and 5 to see what God had earlier told Joshua: I will give you every place on which you set foot, as I promised Moses. (5) No one will be able to oppose you successfully as long as you live. I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will never neglect you or abandon you. Do you think Joshua might have felt like he was getting mixed signals from the Lord? What in the world had happened?
God had NOT changed His mind nor gone back on His promise. He had NOT abandoned Joshua. What had happened was that Israel had disobeyed God. Not the whole nation, just one man, a guy named Achan. But the sin of that one man had affected the whole nation just like a plague begins with a single case. God had a special relationship with Israel and the nation was about to get hit with a spiritual virus. God dealt with it immediately. Joshua didn’t know what or why it had happened. He just felt betrayed, neglected and abandoned. He began to express thoughts that didn’t align with truth.
And that’s one of the problems of depression—our thoughts don’t align with God’s reality. Things appear worse than they really are. We mistakenly believe we’ve been abandoned. We feel hurt, alone, and often wish to die. When I was out of ministry there were days when I told the Lord, “You know I don’t believe in suicide and won’t actually do anything to harm myself. However, if You could see Your way to let a semi-truck run a red light and take me out, I’d be fine with that. I’d be out of my misery and my family could get a pile of money from the trucking company for the accident.” THANK YOU GOD FOR NOT HONORING THAT PRAYER!
God proved His faithfulness to never abandon Joshua. God spoke to him about sin in the camp and told him how to deal with it. Joshua did and God restored the power and might of the Israeli army.
Watch out for fits of depression when your plans get interrupted. Don’t allow your thoughts to get out of alignment with God’s word. It might not be that God has changed His mind or that you’ve missed God’s plan for your life. It just might be that your life has gotten out of balance and God is stopping you for realignment. Are you doing the right thing but in the wrong way? Is there an Achan in your life that’s threatening to infect your spiritual life with a damaging sin virus? Regardless, do what Joshua did—he got on his face before the Lord. Yes, he was whining about some things, but God can handle our whining. What doesn’t work is our withdrawing from Him. Draw near unto Him and He will draw near to you. Watch to see how God will restore you. He always keeps His promises.