The Comsequences of Sin
Let's say that someone steps on the wooden backstairs of your house, and then all of a sudden one of those stairs caves in. Okay, whose fault is it that the stair caved in? Well you could blame it on your friend and say, "'Bout time you went on a diet, isn't it buddy?" Or could it be that it wasn't their weight that really made it collapse? Could it be that those little bugs got in and ate it from the inside; and weakened it? In fact, even a skinny friend might have made it cave in!
If you've ever had those little bugs (termites) in your house, you know what it means to try to get rid of them and you know the damage they can do. You seldom if ever see them, but quietly and subversively they eat away at that wood; and one day the steps collapse, your hand accidentally goes through the weakened wall, or the door just breaks away from its hinges. Not so much because of the weight put on them, but because of the weakness on the inside.
You may not be aware that the people of God in the Old Testament had problems with termites also - spiritual termites. We read about this in many parts of the Bible, but I draw your attention to Joshua 7:8. Let’s just recap a little and see what was happening at this time. The Israelites had just won the battle of Jericho - remember the huge victory when the walls caved in? They then went on to do battle at Ai and were soundly defeated by a much smaller force, and quite a number of their people were killed in the battle. What many of them didn't realize was that among them was a family who had disobeyed God's orders. God's orders were to take no loot out of that city of Jericho. But Achan and his family did it and hid it. And that was ultimately the reason for Israel's defeat.
Joshua is now on his knees and saying, "Lord, what's happened, how come we lost? I thought we were going to be given this Promised Land?" So then he prays. "O Lord, what can I say, now that Israel has been routed by its enemies, the Canaanites and the other people of the country will hear about this. They will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth. What then will You do for your own great name?" The Lord said to Joshua, "Stand up! What are you doing down on your face?" and then in three words He tells what the real problem is. It's not the Canaanites; it's not military defeat - that's what Joshua thinks the problem is. Here's the three word summary of the problem; God simply said, "Israel has sinned" (Joshua 7:8-11).
See, Joshua was doing what we do a lot of times; he was misinterpreting the setback in his life. He thought it was the situation, it was the pressure, the enemy's strength. No it wasn’t any of these. It's not the problems without that defeat us, it's the weaknesses within – like that stair that collapses because of the termite damage. It's a sin that we've been tolerating and it suddenly becomes noticeable when there's a major setback or a defeat, and you have been weakened, eaten away, corroded by that sin. That's the reason things are collapsing.
Don't blame the pressure. Don't blame the problem. Don't blame the people. It might be a mistake to be looking at the financial problem or the medical problem or the personnel problem or whatever the frustration is, as being the issue. It's the result not the cause. Maybe you have, without realizing it, allowed idols to take first place in your life. Suddenly, or over a period of time, Christ’s death and resurrection means very little to you. You no longer follow the Saviour. Worship has fallen by the wayside. The Bible has become a closed book. Prayer is a forgotten blessing. And the result? You become careless with the truth. People mean nothing to you - they are merely an object to get what you want. Or it could be that you've been slowly seduced by materialism, and your values are all inverted. There's sin that you just won't repent of. Whatever it is, the termites of sin have weakened you.
And the defeat you're experiencing, the let-down feeling, the emptiness, the pain inside of you – it's not to bury you, but to draw your attention to the sin you've consistently ignored. God’s love for you is such that He is disciplining you and calling you to return to your first love of your loving Lord. He is opening your heart to a better way for the very first time, or reminding you of the eternal way that you have left! Your heavenly Father, through all that His son has done for you on the Cross, is able to exterminate those spiritual termites - the sin in your life. By the power of His Spirit, He can bring healing and rebuild you life - yes from the ground up! And you will know again, or for the first time, real joy and peace and freedom. You will have a purpose for living that leads to eternal life - you will realize what you have been created and saved for - and that is to worship and serve the one true Lord, and not the useless things of this world. Let Him rid you of those spiritual termites!! Know His forgiving and healing power. Grace and peace...