Jeff Adams

Most of us know what it is to be under heavy attack. In fact, those seem to be the times when most of us shine the most. What derails us is the unexpected or seemingly unimportant – the sneak attack or the Trojan Horse routine.

A great example of this is found in Joshua 9. Can you imagine anything more spectacular than to see God supernaturally cause the wall of Jericho to come crashing down? Talk about a major victory, this is about as big as gets. The nation took a false step when they went against the tiny city of Ai by thinking it was too small to pray about. Wrong! This was another gut check for both Joshua and his people It wasn’t long, however, before they won this victory, too.

It’s hard to blame the nation of Israel for feeling a great deal of relief and a tendency to let down a bit in the aftermath of the Jericho and Ai victories. This was also the cause of a major defeat for Israel – not on the battlefield, but in their own minds and souls. No sooner had the dust settled, the people were blindsided.

Some nearby neighbors, the Gibeonites, figured they must be next on the list to be eliminated. They were certain their defense budget had not been high enough to field an army that could withstand the approaching Israelite advance. What was it that Dad used to say? If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em! They dressed up in old clothes, worn out shoes and carried moldy bread to give give the impression they had traveled from a long way off. Add to this the fact that they came singing the praises of Israel and how they wanted to join with them because of their many impressive victories.

And the men took of their victuals, and asked not counsel at the mouth of the LORD. And Joshua made peace with them, and made a league with them, to let them live: and the princes of the congregation sware unto them. And it came to pass at the end of three days after they had made a league with them, that they heard that they were their neighbours, and that they dwelt among them. Joshua 9:14-16

They should have prayed about it – again. They shouldn’t have let down their mental guard. They shouldn’t have let this secret enemy’s praise inflate their egos and mess with their better judgment. These are all valid points. Here’s another – there are many people who are good to resist the frontal attacks of life, but they can’t handle deception.

In the Revelation, there is a coming time of Great Tribulation forecast to come upon the world. During this time John predicts the rise of two world leaders that are called in his prophecy the Beast and the False Prophet. The Beast is an enemy who crushes his opponents with direct attack. The False Prophet is the master of deception. They work together.

When Paul was saying his good byes to the leaders of the Ephesian church, he warned them of wolves who would attack them from without and others who would rise up from within the church and lead some astray (Acts 20:29-30).

The moral to this is to never lose your focus, never cease to consult God in prayer even for the seemingly insignificant things of life. Don’t be like the baseball player who doesn’t run hard down first base line on pop ups. Don’t be like the football player who plays focused only on one out of two plays. Do be like the boxer who lets down his guard when he thinks he has his opponent on the ropes.

There is a pattern emerging. We must be prepared not only for life’s hard, direct and frontal attacks, we must also maintain our focus to be alert for those attacks that come from within, from those who profess to be our friends, or others.

Here’s how this works in life. Maybe your terrible boss is not your biggest threat. You have held up to his or her unreasonable demands and furious temper. But, it could be that your co-worker who loudly and repeatedly sings your praises and professes to be your friend is busy cutting the floor out from underneath you.

I just came back from Prayer Ministry tonight. It’s easy to remember to come to Prayer Ministry in the time of crisis. We need to remember to pray even when we have no urgent, emergency requests. These would be good times to pray for and with those who do have great need.