Driving out the Canaanites in My Life

Do you struggle with sin?  Silly question huh.  In today's post, Driving out the Canaanites in My Life, I share what the book of Judges teaches about how to conquer sin in your life.

                   Who are the Canaanites and what do they                        have to do with my life?

I confess that even though I have been sharing how differently I've been looking at the Old Testament this read through, seeing it in a positive light and not just as books filled with lists of laws and names of Kings and Judges, when I was about to start the Book of Judges, I inwardly groaned a little.  My frustration was more with my inability to keep straight all the names of the Kings and Judges and why they were significant.  But as I began reading Judges 1, I realized this book is sooo much more than a record of the Judges.

As I read the following verses...

After the death of Joshua, the people of Israel inquired of the Lord, “Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?”  The Lord said, “Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand.” 

And afterward the men of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, in the Negeb, and in the lowland.  And Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron (now the name of Hebron was formerly Kiriath-arba), and they defeated Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai.

 And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they defeated the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath and devoted it to destruction. 

 Judges 1:1-2; 9-10;  17

 ...I thought to myself, I need to drive out the Canaanites in my life...

For further context, the Lord covenanted with Abraham that He would lead the people of Israel into the Promised Land, the land of Canaan.  But the Canaanites followed after other Gods and would need to be driven out before the Israelites could inhabit the area lest they fall into the same sin of Canaan.  That could be a whole other blog post as I sit here pondering why the Lord would not have set aside an uninhabited land as the Promised Land so that the Israelites would not be faced with temptation.  But I digress...

Back to today's blog post.  😉

As we see time and time again in the Old Testament, the Lord uses people's weakness to show His strength.    The Lord is also very patient to carry out His pre-ordained plans.  What may have looked like failure to the Israelites, was anything but to the God Whose purpose cannot be thwarted.

In reading this account about driving out the Canaanites, I was struck by the fact that the Lord did not bring about victory in one fell swoop, as He would certainly be capable of doing, but it took a while to complete the conquests as the Canaanites inhabited many parts of the land.

I also found it interesting how different strategies were used to capture different groups of Canaanites and different responses were encountered from the Canaanites, but Judah stood firm, always seeking the Lord and obeying His instructions to finish the conquest.

What if we defeated the Canaanites in our lives, SIN, in the same manner as Judah did.  What if we sought the Lord and asked Him to show us the areas of sin in our lives and prayed for wisdom and strength for defeating them?

Just how do I drive the Canaanites out of My Life?

I don't know about you, but I set out with the best of intentions on certain days "not to sin".  I'll wait until you finish laughing.  😜  It's not easy is it?!

The fact of the matter is as long as we are in these earthly bodies, although redeemed and new creations, we will struggle with sin and especially besetting sin.  I truly believe that the Lord allows this as part of the sanctification process, so that we will rely on Him for the victories in our lives.

Our Heavenly Father knew everything about us before the worlds began and that included our particular bents to sin.   Yet He has a perfect plan for us, even in our sinful bents.

As I've said before, the Lord provides everything we need for life and living and that includes living victoriously for His great name sake.  I may be taking artistic license here, but I feel as though the Lord has set an example of how to drive out sin in our own lives through this account of Judah's victory over the Canaanites...

If each day, after spending time in the Word, we are convicted, encouraged, spurred on in any area of our lives, we should set out to concentrate on that particular conquest for the day.

For me, I do my Bible reading in the evening and just this week I started making note of a "take home" message from the Lord.  I then find a screen saver for my Iphone with that message where I am reminded throughout the next day of that which I believe the Lord wanted me to have victory over or to spur me on in.  For those who read their Bibles in the morning, you would do it for the same day.

I am finding that by working on small conquests, I tend more toward victory rather than trying to conquer ALL my sins in one day and failing miserably.

The Lord never intended for us to be sanctified in one day.  It is indeed a lifetime process.

I also feel that there are different strategies that the Lord will guide us in to fight different sins in our lives.  It's not a one sin fits all scenario, but some sins require bigger guns than others such as dealing with battles on the outside.  Where other sins may require staying alert when dealing with battles on the inside.

Initially I was going to list examples of ways to fight common sins, but then I thought better about it because He created each of us different and that includes how He will give us victory over a particular sin.   Sally may have victory over gossiping a different way than Lila would.

It is so very important to seek the Lord for His wisdom on how to do battle with sin in your life.  He will instruct you, He will be with you, you need only to obey.

Will there be opposition in driving out the Canaanites?

As you purpose to drive the Canaanites out of your life, there will be opposition to your obedience from the enemy.  I'm sure you've experienced days when you are working hard in an area of obedience only to be faced with responses that are seemingly making victory near impossible.  What's the old saying, "If you pray for more faith, the Lord will allow circumstances to test that faith."  I think we can expect opposition from the enemy when he sees us fighting for victory over our sin, but with the Lord's strength we will stand firm and stay the course.

We need not be discouraged for it is the Lord who will fight for us.  Remember, even when we slip up in an area, the desire of our heart deep down is to obey.  As I said earlier in this post, there are no failures with God's perfect plan.  In fact, each of our failures has a God-ordained purpose.  He WILL finish His loving work in us. 

And I am sure of this, 

that he who began a good work in you

 will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

Philippians 1:6

To read more from this series on a victorious Christian life, please click the following titles:

When Victory in the Christian Life Doesn't Seem So Victorious

Are You a Team Player?

To read more posts on becoming an overcomer, please click on the following titles:

 I've Got the Cure!

A Key Scripture Verse that WILL Make you An Overcomer in the New Year

Breaking the Temptation Cycle: Strength to Strength

Just as the Lord gave preordained victory to Judah, He has preordained our victory in Christ Jesus and will grant us success in our obedience here on earth to drive the Canaanites out of our lives.

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