Try, try, try again…….

‘If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again.’

A familiar saying to encourage us all to have another go when we’ve tried and made a mess of something.

Sometimes this is harder than others.

Sometimes it doesn’t matter. Take trying out a new recipe for example. If I try a recipe and follow it to the letter, then don’t like the result or feel it has not been worth the time or effort taken or find it completely inedible, then that recipe is torn up straightaway and thrown into the bin. I don’t feel the need to try, try again.

Or if I attend a taster class and come away not liking cake decorating or feeling that Tai Chi is not me, then I don’t feel I have to persevere. That is what a taster class is for, after all.

But take Joshua. He and the Israelite army have confidently attacked the city of Ai and spectacularly failed. Joshua has lost confidence in his leadership. The people have lost confidence in their invincibility. Everyone has started wondering if this God really is all-powerful.

And yet God tells Joshua to try again.

This time it will be different. This time He will be with them. This time there is a plan. This time they cannot fail. This time they will not be defeated.

How much trust and obedience must Joshua have had to muster to convince himself and the people to go back to their place of failure and trust God not to let them fail again?

This is a better plan. Thirty thousand of the men are to hide behind the city while Joshua and the main army lure the fighting men of Ai out of the city. Whilst the men are fighting the Israelites, the thirty thousand will then move in behind them and take the city.

When Joshua raises his javelin as a signal, the thirty thousand enter the city and burn it. When the men with Joshua see the city burning, they turn and attack Ai’s fighting men.

All the people of Ai were killed that day. No survivors. No fugitives. And the Israelites were permitted to take plunder and livestock this time (it’s all about trust and obedience).

This time Joshua was not relying on his own strength but on God’s. This time, He was following God’s perfect way and timing. This time, God was with him.

This time, he did not fail.

God knew it would be hard for Joshua to pick himself up, learn from his mistake, move on and try again. His first words to Joshua are –

Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.  Joshua 8:1

Of course, it would be natural for him to be afraid. After all, he had lost a considerable number of his men fighting these people the last time.

And it would be natural to be discouraged. After all, he had led his people into an epic fail.

How could he trust his judgement again? How could the people trust his leadership again?

But he does it. He finds a way to lay aside his fear and discouragement and try again.

This message speaks for itself I think.

Not a lot I need to add.

Sometimes we can walk away from a mistake, put it down to experience and move on.

Other times, we have to face exactly the same situation again, risk failing again and try, try again.

This passage and these thoughts today have reminded me of my favourite Graham Kendrick song of all time – ‘Rejoice, rejoice!’

I can’t listen to this song and consider its words without being encouraged. My fear and discouragement dissolve as I am reminded of these truths. Hope it works for you too!

Rejoice, rejoice, Christ is in you
The hope of glory in our hearts
He lives, He lives, His breath is in you
Arise a mighty army, we arise

Now is the time for us to march upon the land
Into our hands, He will give the ground we claim
He rides in majesty to lead us into victory
The world shall see that Christ is Lord

God is at work in us, His purpose to perform
Building a kingdom of power not of words
Where things impossible by faith shall be made possible
Let’s give the glory to Him now

Though we are weak, His grace is everything we need
We’re made of clay but His treasure is within
He turns our weaknesses into His opportunities
So that the glory goes to Him