Monday, January 17, 2011

JonCourson: “Art thou for us, or for our adversaries,”

 

January 17
 
  . . . and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, what saith my lord unto his servant?  
  Joshua 5:13 (b)-14  
 
As Joshua scoped out the city of Jericho, a Man with a sword in His hand appeared to him. “Are You for us, or for our enemies?” Joshua asked. “Which side are You on?”

But as Captain of the host of the Lord, the issue wasn’t whose side He was on. It was whose side Joshua was on.

If we’re to see walls flattened, the first thing we have to realize is that it’s not “us against them.” When there are walls or barriers in a marriage, a family, or a church, the issue will inevitably become one of us against them, the good guys versus the bad guys. 

“Whose side are You on, Lord?” we ask, sure that He will answer that He is on ours.

But when He simply answers, “No,” wise is the man or woman who does what Joshua did, who bows the knee and changes the question to, “What saith my Lord to His servant?”

Before he understood Who he was talking to, perhaps it was rather gruffly that General Joshua asked, “Whose side are you on?” But once he realized Who it was, he no longer gave orders. He simply reported for duty. And that’s the way prayer ought always to be. We’re re-learning that God always gives His best to those who leave the choice to Him.

I used to think that prayer in faith meant I was to give the plan to the Lord, stand on it in faith, and expect it to come about. I’ve since learned, however, that because we all see through a glass only darkly at best (1 Corinthians 13:12), I would be a fool to order the Lord around. The Bible says to have faith in God. He sees things we don’t see. So we ask in faith. We share our thoughts with the Lord in humility and transparency. But we leave the choice and results with the One who sees the beginning from the end, who sees all things clearly.

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