James Boice once said, “What a short step there is between a great victory and a great defeat. One moment you’re riding high on a cloud of some great spiritual success, and the next moment you’re plunged into the dark valley of some grim spiritual failure.”

How true is that in your life?

From Jericho to Ai

Israel had just experienced one of the most amazing military miracles in history. The walls of Jericho literally came tumbling down. They didn’t have to lift a finger, just walk around the city, and God fought for them.

They were probably feeling pretty good about themselves. “Man, we’ve got this. God is with us. Nothing can stop us.”

Then came Ai. A small town. The spies came back saying, “Don’t even send the whole army. Just send a couple thousand guys. This will be a piece of cake.”

But something went terribly wrong. They fled before the men of Ai. Thirty-six Israelites died. “The hearts of the people melted and became as water.”

Can you imagine the shock?

The Danger of Spiritual Pride

Here’s what happened: They stopped seeking God. Coming off their spiritual high, they thought they had it all figured out. There’s no mention of anyone praying before the battle against Ai. No mention of seeking God’s guidance. They just assumed He would be with them.

What if they had stopped and asked God? What if Joshua had gone to God and said, “Before we take Ai, is there anything I need to know?” Those 36 men might not have had to die. They could have dealt with the sin in the camp first, and then proceeded with God’s blessing.

The Root Issue

The problem wasn’t military strategy. The problem was sin in the camp. Achan had taken some of the devoted things from Jericho; things that belonged to God as the “first fruits” of their conquest. He saw some nice clothes and expensive metals and thought, “This is going to set me up in the promised land.”

But he took what belonged to God. And because of one man’s disobedience, the whole nation suffered defeat.

Learning from Failure

Sometimes we face setbacks in life, and when we do, we need to ask ourselves: Is this just life in a fallen world, or is God trying to get our attention about something?

I’m not saying every bad thing that happens is because you sinned. We live in a fallen world full of sinful people, so bad things happen all the time. But sometimes God will withdraw His blessing to wake us up to some sin we’re ignoring; not because He hates us, but because He loves us.

The Pattern in Our Lives

How many times does this happen in our spiritual lives? Right after some great victory, some answered prayer, some breakthrough, we start thinking we’ve got it all figured out. We stop praying as much. We stop seeking God’s guidance as much. We start relying on our own understanding.

And then we fail. Sometimes spectacularly.

The key is to stay humble, stay dependent, and keep seeking God, especially when things are going well.

Questions for Reflection:

1. Think about your own life. Can you identify times when spiritual success led to spiritual pride?
2. How do you guard against the assumption that yesterday’s victory guarantees tomorrow’s success?
3. What practices help you stay dependent on God even during seasons of blessing?