Leading The Way - Devotional for February 4
February 4, 2026
Hidden Sin
By Michael A. Youssef, Ph.D.
Even though we may be striving to obey God, we may yet make mistakes or occasionally give in to fear or self-serving interests.
Read Joshua 6-7. When fear is up in our hearts, faith is down. When faith is up, fear is down. Achan was in a moment of fear. He had forgotten God’s supernatural provision—eating manna in the wilderness for forty years, crossing the river on dry land, watching the walls of Jericho collapse. He had forgotten the incredible supernatural hand of God. If you mistrust God, thinking that although He worked in the past, He may not be faithful in the future, this is deadly thinking that leads to calamity. When Achan deliberately disobeyed God’s command, not trusting God to provide gloriously for him, he brought failure to the entire nation. The Lord told Joshua the reason for the failure at Ai: “Israel has sinned; . . . 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 7:11-12).
When we fail, one of the hardest things we must do is confront the reason for our failure—especially if it is the consequence of a hidden sin in our lives. Unconfessed sin keeps us from being effective witnesses for Christ. That is why we must constantly purge these sins from our hearts. When we confess and walk away from those sins, we will find a new beginning in our lives. Ai was eventually defeated, but only after the sin was purged.
Perhaps you have recently had a failure at Ai. What hidden sin is lurking in your camp? Confess it to God today and seek His help in purging that sin from your life.
Prayer: Father, I pray that You would reveal any hidden sin in my life. Help me to purge it from my heart and to walk away from it. I humble myself before You, that You might cleanse my heart today. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
“But who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgression” (Psalm 19:12-13).
Learn more in Dr. Michael A. Youssef’s sermon You Want Me to Do What?, Part 6: LISTEN NOW
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Watch Dr. Michael Youssef on this week's broadcast of Leading The Way at LightSource.com.
