GOOD IDEA IS NOT GOD'S IDEA
1 NOW THE LORD SAID TO JOSHUA: “DO NOT BE AFRAID, NOR BE DISMAYED; TAKE ALL THE PEOPLE OF WAR WITH YOU, AND ARISE, GO UP TO Ai. SEE, I HAVE GIVEN INTO YOUR HAND THE KING OF Ai, HIS PEOPLE, HIS CITY, AND HIS LAND.
2 And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king. Only its spoil and its cattle you shall take as booty for yourselves. LAY AN AMBUSH FOR THE CITY BEHIND IT.”
Joshua 8:1,2 (NKJV)
One would see that the approach through which the Israelites took Ai was different from what was suggested earlier to Joshua by those who were sent to spy the land (Joshua 7:2-5).
God is a master strategist! A good idea from your team member cannot be equated with God's idea. In other words, good idea is not God's idea!
Two mistakes were made by the Israelites that made them lose the battle of Ai in their first attempt:
a. There was a forbidden thing or accursed things in their camp—someone had stolen or taken what God forbade them to take—which made God to withdraw His presence from their armies (Joshua 7:10-12).
b. The idea given by the spies sent to the land were not verified from God, whether they should approach the battle the way they suggested, proposed, or not (Joshua 7:2-5).
I. Whenever there is any incriminating thing in a believer's life or in the congregation of believers, God's presence would automatically be withdrawn. Sin in any form would always drive or send away the presence of God and His angels.
The eyes of God cannot behold sin, thus, the presence of disobedience in a believer's life would automatically send away God's presence.
Another important thing to note is that the withdrawal of God's presence is a sign that He is angry with you on whatever you are doing or about to do.
II. Whatever step you are taking should always be verified from God. Any suggestion or counsel or advice should always be found out or ascertained or verified from God.
Whatever idea given by someone or any suggestion from a trusted person, you would do well to always clear such from God before it is implemented. A way might seem right in your sight but the end of it might be a destruction or death (Proverbs 14:12; 16:25).
This is where It is necessary and important for a believer to always behold the face of God in order to know what exactly to do at every given time (Psalm 121:1; 2 Corinthians 3:18).
Those who were sent to the land, Ai, advised that a limited number of people should be sent to take the land (Joshua 7:2-4), but in God's instruction given to Joshua, He said the whole army of Israel should be mobilized for the battle and they should lay an ambush for the city behind it (Joshua 8:1,2).
We could see a sharp contrast or difference between what the people sent there gave as a counsel and the counsel of God.
Any believer or minister who walks and do things solely by the counsel he or she received might be at loggerheads with God—except in a situation where such a believer is immature or still growing in the understanding of the hearing from God.
In fact, at times, the counsel you received from someone you revered or respected might not be right or in agreement with God's counsel or Will. The reason being that the person who gave the counsel might not be in the Spirit at the time he or she did give the advice or counsel. The mature and trusted believer who you look up to for an advice or a counsel might talk out of his or her experience but what such said might not be the right word for the moment—the word that could be a solution to the issue, or solve the problem, at hand.
A good idea or counsel from your team members might also not be God's idea or counsel, thus, every idea or counsel should be cleared or verified or found out from God before you put it to work.
You will not fail in Jesus' name.
Peace!