Have you ever come to the end of something big and wondered, “Ok. Now what?”
Perhaps you reached a goal that you have worked a long time to achieve. Maybe you finally finished up remodeling your house that you had been working on for such a long time. (I haven’t. My remodeling projects still continue.) Maybe you finally hit your target weight. Maybe you went a whole week without speaking negatively about anybody. Maybe you had a goal for Lent and you actually saw it through this year. Maybe it was something else, but I’ll ask the question again…have you ever come to the end of something big and wondered, “Ok. Now what? What am I supposed to do now?” The goal has been achieved. The date has passed. The target has been reached, and then you’re left wondering “What next?”
As a pastor, Easter can be a bit like that for me. It seems as if I spend the whole season of Lent preparing, praying, getting ready for Easter. I get excited as the weather gets warmer. I look forward with anticipation to Easter Sunday and all of the things that surround that day. Maybe there will be bump in attendance on Sunday morning. Maybe there will be some extra excitement as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. Maybe a revival will break out and lives will be transformed and we will all get to participate in and witness an extravagant move of the Holy Spirit. (These hopes are not isolated to Easter Sunday, but they are heightened by that day.) Easter and the build-up to Easter Sunday can be exciting. It can be a highlight. It can be a goal to strive towards, a destination to reach.
And then…Easter Sunday comes. Easter Sunday goes.
The next thing I know it is Monday morning, and I am sitting at home wondering, “Ok, God. Now what?” “What do I do next? Where do I go from here? Easter Sunday was a target, a goal, but now it is done. How do I proceed?”
For me, this can happen in other areas of my life as well. I reach a particular goal. I complete something that I had previously set out to achieve, and then when it is over, I wonder what to do next. How do I proceed? Not only do I question how to move forward, but I also experience a bit of an “Easter Sunday is over let down.” The goal, the target, the mountaintop has been reached, but then life continues. Life keeps moving, and I can be left feeling a little glum, a little blue, a little lost with how to continue.
If we are honest, this is a problem that we can all face. We reach a high, we reach a peak, we ascend the mountain, and then the experience ends. The goal is reached. The task has been completed, and it can leave us feeling a bit low, a bit down, a bit depressed, wondering how we should proceed into the future.
You’ve heard of Michael Phelps, right? Amazing swimmer. Olympic medalist. 23 golds. 3 silvers. 2 bronzes. Quite the athlete. He has experienced what many would argue is the pinnacle of the sport of swimming. Olympic gold. Not once, not twice, but 23 different times. Do you know what he said happened to him after competing in the London Olympic Games? “He has just won two silver medals and four gold medals, but the success wasn’t enough to buoy his spirits. He stayed in his room for four days, without eating or sleeping. ‘I didn’t want to be in the sport anymore,’ he says. ‘I didn’t want to be alive.’” After experiencing an enormous high in the sport of swimming, Mr. Phelps struggled with the lowest of lows. He did not know how to go on. He did not know how to proceed. The top had been reached. Now what?
This is something that we can all face to one degree or another. We reach the peak, then comes the descent, and we are left feeling low wondering what to do next.
My advice?
Seek God. Right away.
Be relentless in your pursuit of Jesus, especially after a success or a victory.
I imagine that you remember the story of Joshua and the battle of Jericho. Even if you don’t know all of the details, the main gist of the story remains well known. There’s even a song written about it.
“Joshua fought the battle of Jericho. Jericho. Jericho. Joshua fought the battle of Jericho, and the walls came tumbling down.”
You’ve heard of this happening, right? Joshua 6 is where that account is located if you want a refresher. But do you know what happened next? Do you remember the battle of Ai?
Look at what happens in Joshua Chapter 7.
“Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth Aven to the east of Bethel, and told them, ‘Go up and spy out the region. So the men went up and spied out Ai. When they returned to Joshua, they said, ‘Not all the army will have to go up against Ai. Send two or three thousand men to take it and do not weary the whole army, for only a few people live there.’”
~ Joshua 7:2-3
Joshua and the Israelites had just been successful against Jericho. They had just received a miraculous victory by the hand of God. They had just experienced the highest of highs, so do you know what they did? They kept on trucking. Kept on pushing forward. After all, Jericho wasn’t the main objective. The entire Promised Land was before them. Goal reached? Check. Moving on.
The problem?
They didn’t seek God.
They thought that they could figure it out on their own. They thought that they had been victorious in one battle, so victory was obviously going to come in the next. They used their own wisdom, their own insight, their own strength.
Let’s look at how that turned out.
So about three thousand went up; but they were routed by the men of Ai, who killed about thirty-six of them. They chased the Israelites from the city gate as far as the stone quarries and struck them down on the slopes. At this the hearts of the people melted in fear and became like water.
~ Joshua 7:4-5
They were instantly defeated, and “the hearts of the people melted in fear and became like water.” They were afraid, I get that, but what does it mean for your heart to become like water? According to commentaries, this means that they were “soft and weak, and full of fluctuation and trembling.” The defeat of this portion of the army in the battle of Ai left the whole community of Israel feeling as if the Lord had forsaken them, as if they were destined to be defeated. They were depressed, and they had no idea what to do next.
Fortunately, Joshua knew where to turn, and he cried out to God.
Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell facedown to the ground before the ark of the Lord, remaining there till evening. The elders of Israel did the same, and sprinkled dust on their heads. And Joshua said, “Alas, Sovereign Lord, why did you ever bring this people across the Jordan to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us? If only we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan! Pardon your servant, Lord. What can I say, now that Israel has been routed by its enemies? The Canaanites and the other people of the country will hear about this and they will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth. What then will you do for your own great name?”
~ Joshua 7:6-9
Even though Joshua and the Israelites made a mistake in not seeking God before the battle against Ai, they at least knew enough to seek God after being defeated. They humbled themselves, and God answered.
The Lord said to Joshua, “Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction.
~ Joshua 7:10-12
In this case, the Israelites had been unsuccessful against Ai because they had been sinful after Jericho. One among them had taken some of the treasure that God had told them to destroy. They had been disobedient, and they had not fully followed God’s plan. Had they been completely faithful, they would have been spared this defeat. Had they sought the Lord prior to the battle, they might have been spared their defeat as well. Once they sought God and followed through with what God wanted, they were able to defeat Ai by the power of God.
Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Take the whole army with you, and go up and attack Ai. For I have delivered into your hands the king of Ai, his people, his city and his land. You shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, except that you may carry off their plunder and livestock for yourselves. Set an ambush behind the city.”
~ Joshua 8:1-2
Victory at Ai was waiting for the Israelites; however, it would only come as they sought the Lord and were obedient to him. Victory over their fear and their “hearts of water” (remember soft & weak, full of fluctuation and trembling) would come; however, it would only come as they sought the Lord and were obedient to him.
Whenever we complete a goal, finish a task, make it through a season, are coming down the back side of a mountain, we need to remember the battle of Ai. Maybe we should write a song about it. Sing it with me.
“Joshua fought the battle of Ai. Ai. Ai. Joshua fought the battle of Ai, and the Israelites were defeated and became fearful with their hearts full of water because they had been unfaithful and had failed to seek God but then they sought God and were faithful and were given victory in the end.”
Ok. Maybe it doesn’t have the same catchy ring to it, but it is still an important lesson to remember. Seek God. After a high. During a low. Everywhere in between. Seek God. Seek God. Seek God. First, middle and last. Seek God. Be faithful. If God has asked for you to do something, do it. Then, trust that God will lead, that God will guide, that God will provide the victories to come, especially after Easter.
~ Pastor Chris
