"At Risk"

"And they returned to Joshua, and said unto him, Let not all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; and make not all the people to labour thither; for they are but few.  So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men: and they fled before the men of Ai." Joshua 7:3,4

In any organization, be it a military, a business or a social organization, there is a plan, a chain of command, and a protocol to follow.  If these are not followed, then the whole operation is put at risk.  The plan may not be accomplished.  This happened at Ai.  God had a plan to bring His people into the Promised Land.  At Ai they did not follow the proper procedure.  They left out the "chain of command" - which was God.  They didn't acknowledge Him, they went in on their own.  They were defeated by the people of Ai and had to flee for their lives.  It put the whole plan at risk.

This is not only a pattern to follow in the military or some organization.  It is the pattern of the Kingdom of God and for our individual lives.  God has a plan for His Kingdom and its representation on earth-- the church.  He has a plan for each born-again believer individually. 

 That plan is accomplished as we follow the chain of command.  The Lord is the chain of command.  The Lord is the One we seek for guidance and instruction.  The Israelites acknowledged Joshua, their human leader, but they left out their True Leader, their King, their Master-- the Lord. 

It is accomplished as we follow the Lord's protocol.  Which is not only to acknowledge Him, but to follow His leading, to obey what He tells us to do, when He tells us to do it and how He tells us to do it.  The protocol is if He tells us to march around the city seven times, then that is what we do.  If He tells us to wait for the sound of the trumpet, we wait until we hear it.  Etc.

If we go off on our own, if we try to do it ourselves, if we don't wait for Him, if we attempt to do it our own way, then we put His plan, our destiny, His purpose in our lives at risk.  Not to mention that we have a lot of "excess" to have to then deal with-- like an Ishmael.

If we are to accomplish God's plan for our lives, and the church.  Then we are going to have to follow the chain of command-- get direction from Him.  And we are going to have to follow protocol-- obey what He says to do.

Have a great day.  We put God's plan for our lives at risk if we don't follow the procedure He has prescribed.

For further reading:
Joshua 7, 8