Gods Sabbath

S UCCESS AND F AILURES

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Inevitably, in life’s learning processes, we sometimes make the mistake of relying on ourselves instead of making God our Source. When we learn from our mistakes this need not be come a chronic problem. What is regrettable is the persistent tendency of continuing to cling to human ways. God’s desire is that we will, upon seeing the marvelous and complete way in which He handles our difficulties, become unswervingly dedi cated to His ways forever. We can learn this either from the Scriptures or by being forced through circumstances to surren der our problems to God. Unfortunately for us, our usual response is not to surrender. Once we have experienced deliverance by clinging to the right procedure, the very next time we find ourselves in trouble, we usually revert to the formula for failure. It is illogical and in credible, but it is a fact of history. Success tends to breed self trust, so that when the next problem presents, we confidently assume we have the power to deal with it ourselves, instead of remembering our previous success is due to our heavenly Plan Maker and Problem Solver alone. But someday, God will cure a goodly remnant of this persist ent tendency. When He does, He will at last be able to execute, through them, His long formulated but never executed plan to finish the work. What joy that will be to the Infinite Mind when His church finally establishes itself into a true co-working rela tionship with Him by entering into His Sabbath rest.

Costly Reversions

Great, experienced, and godly a man as Joshua was, sadly he succumbed more than once to such a course of reversion after entering Canaan. For a man of such advanced spiritual and in tellectual maturity who had been blessed with large revelations of God and His ways, it hardly seems possible, but nonetheless it happened. After the great success at Jericho, it seems that Joshua allowed his self-confidence to lead him to trust in self rather than God for the next conquest. The record of this is a timely warning to us not to become complacent or self-confident.