Once when the English author John Ruskin visited a friend, he found her very upset. She had ruined an expensive handkerchief by a blot of indelible ink. "Nothing can be done about it," she cried. Ruskin asked to see the cloth and then took it home. Some time later he sent the handkerchief back, and the blot could not be recognized. He had made a design of surpassing beauty, using the blot itself as the basis for a pattern. The cloth became even more valuable than before it was stained.
After the overwhelming victory of Jericho, Israel was ignominiously defeated at Ai. Joshua, in frustration, went to God to ask, "Why?" He complained that such defeat would be a blot on Israel's reputation and would even reflect on God Himself (Joshua 7:6-13). God pointed out Israel's problem to Joshua, and the sin was corrected. A second charge on Ai took place, and this time total victory came to Israel. God had taken the blot and made something beautiful from it.
Scholars often say that at Jericho the Israelites learned the lesson of faith, and at Ai they learned obedience. Without a doubt, their lives were enriched by the blot of Ai. In the same way, our lives are sometimes touched with defeat. But, if at those times we pray, God points out our problems and takes the cloth of our lives to make something beautiful and valuable.
“O Lord, what can I say since Israel has turned their back before their enemies?”
Joshua 7:8 NASB
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