Joshua 8:15
“And Joshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness.”
“How could I not see it?” This is one of the most common questions a person asks themselves after sin has conquered them. Sin has a way of blinding us from its affect on our lives, and we often don’t see these affects until it’s too late and we have already experienced its destructing hands.
Israel is a perfect picture of how sin blinds us from its affects. During the battle of Jericho, Achan sinned by taking of the accursed things. Though Achan hid his sin well, its affect caused Israel to lose a battle to a much smaller opponent. It wasn’t until God revealed the sin to Joshua that they were able to correct it. But, in the second battle with Ai, we see what the blinding affects of sin were upon this country, and you will experience the same blinding affects if you don’t promptly deal with your sin.
First, sin takes your judgment away. Israel couldn’t see sin twisting their judgment because they were so focused upon themselves. Sin affected their judgment because they were focused on their own strength. They thought they could conquer Ai without asking for God’s help. Sin has a way of making us self-confident. We become very confident in what we can do. You will often find in your life that you will start planning things and doing things without even asking God for His help. This is one of the blinding affects of sin. All you have to do to see if sin is blinding you is look back and see how often you asked for God’s help before you do anything. If you find yourself going straight into any project without asking for God’s help, then sin has taken your judgment away.
Second, sin takes your strength away. It says in the verse above, “Israel made as if they were beaten before them…” Why did they do this? They did this because previously Ai chased them all the way back to their camp. A smaller opponent had victory over them. When you continually find yourself losing battles that you should have won, you need to stop and see if there is sin in your life. Sin has a way of making you weaker than the weakest. Don’t ever take defeat for granted. Always take the time in defeat to look and see if sin has taken your strength away.
Third, sin takes your time away. Israel could have been fighting other battles, but sin took their time away by making them go back and fight a battle that they should have previously won. When you find that you never have enough time, that is a good indicator that sin could be affecting you. Sin keeps you from completing projects. Don’t allow sin to steal your time. Keep your time productive by keeping away from sin.
Fourth, sin takes your victories away. Israel couldn’t win as long as sin was in the camp. Sin will cause a person not to be as victorious as God wants. When you find yourself constantly losing battles, that is a good time to stop and find out why. Maybe sin has taken your victories away.
How can you avoid this? What should you do to keep sin from blinding you? Daily ask God to reveal sin and its affect on your life. I’m not talking about just repeating these words, but I am talking about truly asking God to show you when sin is in your life. You will find that God will show you sin if you deal with it immediately. Don’t allow sin to have these blinding affects on your life. Keep yourself clean from sin, and you will find these things will not hinder you from victory.