Christian Devotional – August 13, 2025

Begin Again, Day 15

Expect setbacks. Read Joshua, chapter 7.

This pattern is so incredibly common, even today. We experience a tremendous victory from the Lord, and it seems like the very next thing that happens is some kind of massive defeat. Success is extremely hard to deal with. I recently heard famed football coach Nick Saban talk about this very fact. He was explaining that success tends to lead to a kind of relaxation, where you stop pushing as hard. The Israelites evaluated the next town they needed to conquer and didn’t feel like it was much of a threat. However, they failed to evaluate their own selves and their own lives and address and deal with the sin that had crept in.

We will never continue to be successful while we allow sin to be part of our lives. God told Joshua to stop moping about the defeat, get up, and address the sin. God told them how to address the sin, and Joshua got up and did it.

We need to evaluate our lives. Stop moaning and complaining when things don’t work out, and evaluate for any areas of doubt, disobedience or lack of surrender. Are we truly allowing God to do everything in our lives that he wants to do? And does he have control of everything in our lives? What do we need to go through and evaluate in our own life today, so that we can continue to press forward and be successful?

Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/0Fb18N-9-Vo