God Doesn't Take Sides, He Gives Directions

Joshua 5:13–15 (ESV) When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” 14 And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” 15 And the commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

I love this passage. God's answer is so funny. But it's such a great passage for the first month of the year. 

Every new year we take time to plan out what we want to accomplish. We are going to get more healthy, spiritual, social and/or accomplished. We like to do this. We like to make plans. But what about God? What do we do with Him? Because He has a way of being God no matter what we think or plan.

Joshua has done all the Lord commanded. He's cross the Jordan at the Lord's command, he's circumcised the men of Israel at the Lord's command, he's celebrated the Passover at the Lord's command. Now at long last, he MEETS PERSONALLY with God. 

You might be shocked to find out, this was Joshua's first meeting with God. As a young man, he stayed near the tent with Moses as Moses met with God. But Joshua always had a third-party relationship with God until now. Now the Lord shows up in person for Joshua. 

Here the Lord has a sword in His hand. This is Joshua's love language. He's a fighter. He's been a fighter for a long time. So Joshua is kind of an expert in this field. When he sees this man he has a very "military" kind of question for him: "Which side are you on?"

God's answer? "No."
I love this! Not "I'm not on either side, Joshua, I'm the Lord of all." Not, "Well, I'm not on a particular side but I'm really rooting for you!" He says one word, "NO!" It's moments like this that make me absolutely sure the Holy Spirit HAD to inspire these words. Men would not write this stuff down. Joshua would have made it say, "I'm on your side, Josh, of course!" But God says "No!"

It's very much like us to ask God to be on our side. We like to make Jesus a Democrat or Republican. Why? Because we are and surely we have heard from God and those fools on the other side need to hear from us! But God made those people who don't vote like you and He loves them and wants to spend eternity with them as well. Let that ruin your weekend...

But I think what Joshua experiences in this "NO" from God is essential for all of us. If we are ever going to do something of great importance with the gifting and calling God has placed on our lives we have to stop asking God to align with how we feel about it and start aligning with God's direction for it. It's fine to have plans, but God's ultimate purpose is going to come to pass no matter what! So stop expecting everything you dreamed of doing to go the way you want and for God to bless it just so. He's God, you're not. Move forward with an open ear. 

Why is this important? Because Joshua is about to get the craziest military strategy in History to overcome the very imposing city of Jericho (see Joshua 6). If Joshua didn't resolve to let God be God and His plans prevail, he would have missed it and maybe lost the battle. Would he have been given a second chance? It's very likely but what a waste of time it would have been. 

Instead of just running ahead expecting God to bless your plans, stop and ask His direction. You'll end up getting further faster even if God gives you detailed instructions for something that you think is crazy. When I read the Bible, it was usually the ones who did the unusual who experienced the supernatural.