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Scripture:
Joshua 10:7-15Reflections:
The following points will help us understand how God fights for us.1. We can learn to trust God and believe in his promises.
And the Lord said to Joshua, "Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands. Not a man of them shall stand before you." (Joshua 10:8)God made a promise and Joshua believed and trusted in God's word. We can read about the result in Joshua 10:9-11. The Lord fought for Israel. Joshua did not have the ability or strength to win his battle. The first thing he did was to trust God. God does not forsake those who seek him. Whatever circumstances we are facing right now, we can trust God and believe in his promises for he who has promised is faithful. Whatever God started in your life, he will bring it to completion.
2. We need to prepare before stepping into the battle.
"So Joshua came upon them suddenly, having marched up all night from Gilgal." (Joshua 10:9)The second truth that we can learn from Joshua's story is to show up to the battle prepared to advance. After receiving God's promise, after believing and trusting God, Joshua and his army too time to prepare for battle. They marched and had to ascend from Gilgal to Gibeon. It took them the whole night to get ready for battle.
It makes you wonder: "How many times do we try to take matters into our own hands before spending time alone with God?" It takes time to prepare for battle. It takes effort. You cannot just face the enemy without preparation, unless you want to fail and go backward.
The most significant spiritual battle that ever took place on earth occurred at Gethsemane, the night before Jesus' crucifixion (Luke 22:39-46). Jesus knew that he was going to face the enemy at the cross. Jesus prayed all night long. He earnestly prayed that his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. Jesus prayed before going to battle, for you and me.
Let us be humble and seek the Lord's face before facing our enemies.
3. We can learn that we need spiritual wisdom to understand that God's timing is not our timing.
At that time Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, "Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon." (Joshua 10:12)
Joshua and the army marched all night long in preparation for the battle and to take the enemy by surprise. The battle began and Joshua prayed to God to hold the sun still so they could finish the battle in that day.
Nevertheless, for God to fight our battles, we are going to have to trust his time-frame. It is natural that we want to be victorious in our battles as soon as possible. But we must give time for God to move. Allow him to decide when to act. On the other hand, this does not gives us a license for spiritual procrastination. There is a time to move.
Joshua and his army did what they had to do, but they trusted God and allowed him to do his part at the right time.
Jesus fought our battles on the cross. We can cast our cares on him for he cares for us.
Photo by: Wilmalyn Claire Almeria
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