Stop Crying About it and Fix It!

“And the LORD said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face?” (Jos 7:10 AV)

The people had just lost their first battle.  Joshua sent up three thousand men to take the city of Ai.  A rather small city which should have been easily taken.  However, the Jewish forces fled from the face of the men of Ai and thirty-six died in the battle.  We now find Joshua on his face before the LORD because he is led to believe the enemies of Israel will hear of this one defeat.  He is afraid they will hear of this battle, organize, and come after Israel.  He is afraid Israel will lose and it were better for them to be back in Egypt.  He is praying his heart out before the LORD.  The verse above is God’s response to this prayer.  In essence, the LORD is refusing to hear the prayer until Joshua grows up and finds the cause for the failure.  The LORD is not about to entertain a pity party when there is somethings that could be done about it.

Every parent has this experience with his young child.  The young child attempts something and fails.  He sits that on the floor and feels sorry for himself.  He may even throw a temper tantrum.  Pity is not what that child needs.  If he is trying to do something which he can, indeed, accomplish, the dad needs to reject the child’s self-pity.  For instance, every child goes through something like this.  He sits on the floor and plays with a toy that requires pieces be attached.  He sees older children successfully assemble the toy.  He tries and the pieces fall apart.  He whimpers.  He tries again.  They fall apart again.  He cries.  He tries again. They fall apart again.  Now he is mad and throws the pieces.  There is one of two things Dad can do.  He can take pity on the child and comfort him is his failure, removing the toy so it does not further frustrate the child.  Or, the wise father can get on the floor with the child, show him time and again how it works, and make him figure it out.  Without the self-pity.  Figure it out, kid!  Stop the crying and grow.

We do this every time adverse circumstances come our way that may be a result of our own choices.  Even if they are not, these circumstances are an opportunity to overcome.  These circumstances are an opportunity to correct sin, or learn to trust God deeper than we have before.  What we do not need to do is sit there in a stooper of self-pity and waste or energy wishing the circumstances were not there.  My mother was a great example of this.  Other than camping, I never heard her once complain about any circumstances of life.  She was an overcomer.  She never asked for any pity and often rejected it from others.  That was the way she raised her children.  Stop crying about it and find a way to fix it!  That is the backbone of a leader.