Lessons from the Life and Leadership of Joshua Part 3/3.

Staff Blogger Steve C Green

Lessons for the local church

How to succeed

We have looked at Joshua and how he handled difficult situations. But there is a message here for Encounter Church as well.

We are a small church. Does that mean, in the natural, that the battle is already lost because our numbers are small? Absolutely not. That is not how God measures anything. That is not how His plans unfold. Things play out exactly as God says they will — not according to statistics, not according to demographics, and not according to what we can see with our eyes.

Look across Bathgate and West Lothian today. Would you say everyone is living their best life? I do not think so. There are people who desperately need God. There are broken situations, hurting families, and lives that are crying out for hope.

When we used to prayer‑walk Bathgate, we would stop outside nurseries and schools and pray: “Lord, protect every child in this building. Let each one know at least one person who will love them and keep them safe.” Because that is a real need in our world.

Outside the MP’s office we prayed: “Lord, if this MP will not do Your will or act for the good of the people, replace them with someone who will.”

Walking past the bookies and pawn shops we prayed: “Lord, if these places are destroying lives and draining families, close them down.”

And for every empty shop: “Lord, open this place again. Bring jobs. Bring life back into this town.”

None of that was easy. But it was right.

Let us return to God’s original promise to Joshua — Joshua 1:7–8: Be strong and very courageous. Obey all the law. Do not turn from it to the right or the left. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips. Meditate on it day and night. Do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

As a church, we could make plans. We could form committees. We could organise strategies and give it our best effort. But that is not where the victory comes from. That is not how lives are restored. That is not how our town Bathgate is changed.

Victory comes from knowing God’s Word and praying God’s will.

Earlier we read Luke 4:18 — Jesus came to set prisoners free, to break chains, to bring freedom. It is not about us. It is about Him.

Let me close with 2 Chronicles 7:14: If my people, who are called by my name — that’s us — will humble themselves and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.

Imagine what it would mean for God to heal Bathgate and West Lothian. Lives put back together. Families restored. Communities transformed. Crime disappearing. Hope returning.

Think of the Lewis Revival. When God moved on that island, everything changed. Police stations closed — no crime. Courts shut — no cases. Pubs emptied — people had no desire for them. Villages of two hundred people had to build a second church because the first could not hold the crowds.

God made a difference in those lives.

How would a social worker describe it? People slept well for the first time in years. Families reconciled. Friendships changed. People found energy, purpose, and joy again.

When God moves, these are the signs you see.

Amen

Personal Prayer