Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face?

“And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the LORD until the eventide, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads. And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord GOD, wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? would to God we had been content, and dwelt on the other side Jordan! O Lord, what shall I say, when Israel turneth their backs before their enemies! For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it, and shall environ us round, and cut off our name from the earth: and what wilt thou do unto thy great name? And the LORD said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face? Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff. Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you. Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow: for thus saith the LORD God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you. In the morning therefore ye shall be brought according to your tribes: and it shall be, that the tribe which the LORD taketh shall come according to the families thereof; and the family which the LORD shall take shall come by households; and the household which the LORD shall take shall come man by man.” Joshua 7:6-14

This passage of scripture has been a real blessing to me in the last few days. So many times I feel like giving up because of sin or failure, but God's command still echos out loud and clear: "Get up, why are you sitting there lying on your face in depression? Repent of your sin, sanctify yourself, and move forward. There are more battles to be fought, and more victories to be won."

Getting up can be hard, though, after a crushing defeat. Nevertheless, brothers and sisters: Let's get back up on our feet and be soldiers for God. One defeat does not mean that we have lost the entire battle. Time is shorter than ever, let us use it wisely.

"Nothing in my hand I bring,

Simply to thy cross I cling!

Naked come to thee for dress,

Helpless, look to thee for grace.

Foul I to the fountain fly,

Wash me Savior, or I die!"