Topic: The Hindrance
Text: Joshua 7:1-12

Believers often wonder why they have stumbling blocks on their pathway. There is a reason behind whatever happens in life. If you have discovered any hindrance in your life, you must take cognizance of the fact that there is a reason behind it. If you have lost one battle after another you must find out why the situation has remained so. Your situation may not change unless you take off whatever is responsible for it. In our text, God told Joshua why Israel lost their battles. They had just had a victory over Jericho but one of them stole and God decided to leave them. They were defeated the next battle. Joshua fell on his face in the presence of God and God told him that they had sinned by taking the accursed thing, and He could not therefore continue with sinners.

Many of us go to God asking for miracles, signs and wonders instead of first cleaning up our lives. We often pray when we should spend time in repenting and asking God for mercy. The sun is always there and all we need to do is to get rid of the clouds. Whatever is blocking your way and would not allow you to see God should be removed. Samson’s story in Judge 16:14-20 further enunciates this. God was with Samson; no enemy could face and defeat him. However, the story changed when he sinned. When he got to the gate, he shook it from the foundation and carried it away. In Judges 16, we find that he had moved far away from the sun and the shadow was no longer there. He arose and tried to fight as before but the glory of God had departed from him and he was no longer the same Samson who carried the presence of God with him whenever he went. He was arrested, shaved and made to grind in the enemy’s temple.

The Bible says that he did not know that the Lord had departed from him. Are you at present in a situation that can be likened to this? Then you must cry out unto the Lord for mercy. Pray like the Psalmist: “Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.”
(Psalms 57:1)

Memory Verse: Psalms 66:18 - “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:”