The life of a Christian has certain highs and lows, occasional hills and valley, frequent good times and yet some challenging stretches. We are familiar with that sort of ebb-and-flow as individuals—where in some seasons we feel that we are tremendously growing spiritually, while in other stretches we feel like we have failed in every way possible. This is true at a church level too—there are times when we as a people seem to be walking faithfully and experiencing God's blessings, and other times that are quite hard to weather. This Sunday we will find Israel in one of those low spots in Joshua chapter seven. Coming fresh off their miraculous victory at Jericho, Israel makes a mess of things quite quickly and experiences a crushing defeat at Ai. They welcome sin into their camp, and destruction follows. There are few pictures that so viscerally show the destructive consequences of sin—and yet God is not done with His people! These passages are sobering concerning our sin, but they are a tremendous encouragement concerning the redemption and restoration that God extends to His people when they repent. We may at times cast ourselves into valleys, but hope is not lost.
