Joshua 7:10
“And the LORD said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face?”
Israel had enjoyed the blessings of God for some time. They experienced victory after victory, and it seemed that nothing was going to stop them. However, something did stop them. What stopped them was like running into a brick wall. They conquered the great city of Jericho, but they experienced defeat at the Battle of Ai. This army should have been no contest for the army of Israel, but something caused the blessings of God to stop and instead bring defeat.
When the blessings stopped, Joshua immediately fell on his face to ask God why He turned off the facet of blessings. God’s response to Joshua was classic when He said, “Get thee up.” God knew that when the blessings stopped, it was not time to sit and sulk, but it was time to stand and search out what caused the squelching of God’s blessings.
Every Christian enjoys it when God’s blessings seem to be an unending pipeline from Heaven. However, there are going to be times when those blessings dry up. What you do when the blessings dry up will determine whether you see God’s blessings again. Just because you don’t see God’s blessings doesn’t mean that you can’t see them again. Three actions are revealed in this chapter that show what you should do when the blessings dry up.
First, pray when the blessings dry up. Joshua’s first action was not to give excuses for no more blessings; instead, his action was to go to the source of blessings and see if He had a reason for stopping them. When you see the blessings stop, your first response should always be to pray. Prayer is what brought your blessings in the first place, and prayer is what will bring them back.
Second, examine yourself when the blessings dry up. God told Joshua to get up because there was something he needed to fix. My friend, excuses never opened God’s blessings to one person. When it seems you can’t get God’s blessings, you should always examine yourself to see if there is something you have done that caused them to stop. Examine yourself to see if you have done something wrong, or if you need to change something in your life. Let the time when blessings cease be a time of examination.
Third, remove the source that stopped the blessings. Joshua went straight to the source that stopped the blessings, and he removed it. When you discover the source of why the blessings stopped, remove it. The blessings of God are more valuable than the enjoyment of sin. Don’t let sin continue to be the blockage of God’s blessings.
Christian, just because the blessings stop doesn’t mean that they can’t flow again. Israel took care of what stopped the blessings, and they experienced God’s blessings again. If you deal with the blockage of God’s blessings, the flow of those blessings will only be a temporary stop until you care for the problem that caused the blockage in the first place.
Let me ask you, does it seem like God’s blessings have stopped in your life? If they have stopped, don’t just sit there and sulk! Get up and find the cause of why they stopped, and fix it so you can see His blessings on your life again. Let me encourage you to let the stoppage of God’s blessings be a cleaning and renewing time with the LORD.