Joshua 10:8

Joshua 10:8

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.”

  

So God has a plan for our lives…we trust that this plan is perfect, that God is perfect, and that no mistakes are made when he lays out his design and says “follow”. But that doesn’t mean that his plan is going to be easy for us…even though it is perfectly crafted and completely void of flaw, it still may leave us scratching our heads, wondering how this makes any sense. In fact, through our broken flawed human lens, it might even seem ridiculous, illogical, and even impossible. In the Book of Joshua, we journey through several accounts where God calls on Joshua to faithfully carry out some pretty tall orders. At this point in the game (captured in chapter 10 above), the Lord has lead Joshua and the Israelites to walk across a massive river during peak flood stage (Joshua 3-4), bringing down the giant city walls of Jericho with shouting voices (Joshua 6), and now finally defeating five Amorite armies with just his group of Israelites and a group from the city of Gibeon (Joshua 8). In each instance, Joshua faced a task that to mere man seemed impossible. Imagine the look on Joshua’s face when he stood on that river bank, watching the violent waves rush by, shielding his eyes to catch a far off glimpse of the opposite bank. “Impossible”, he probably thought. Yet he followed, and with the first step into the water, God stopped the water, dried up the river bed, and provide safe passage across. Or imagine when Joshua and the Israelites stood outside the walls of Jericho, marching day in and day out, staring up at these impossibly fortified walls, seeing no real way to bring them down…perhaps thinking, “Really, God?” But then on the seventh and final day, God instructed them to shout, and just like that, the fortified walls became nothing more than crumbled piles of stone. And finally, imagine Joshua and the Israelites standing with the Gibeon’s looking out at five separate armies banded together as one, ready to crush their heads and take their city…”No way God, impossible!” Yet God provided again, as he confused the enemy soldiers minds, rained massive hailstones down on their heads, and finally stopping the very the sun in the sky, allowing Joshua and his army to snuff out all sign of this ruthless enemy. Not one path that God put before Joshua was easy and it’s likely not every path made sense to Joshua. Yet, God carried them out to perfection, and provide for the well-being of Joshua and his people. Now, it took great discipline and trust on Joshua’s behalf…he had to take that first step into the violent river current…he had to steadfastly lead the march around that city for seven days straight…and he had to stand ready for battle against a terrifying opponent that could have easily ended his life. We probably won’t be called to bring down city walls or physically fight an army, but God calls us into seemingly impossible tasks all the time. When we get a surprisingly difficult health diagnosis...when we face a insurmountable challenge at work…when we find a relationship deteriorating in our hands…we think, “yeah right, no way!” But in those moments, we are not supposed to throw the towel in and quit, forfeiting the fight…rather, we are called to seek the Lord and trust his direction. We may find ourselves in the difficult situation because of our own sinful choices (we caused it) or it may be something God has simply planned out from the beginning. Either way, we do not have to figure it out on our own. We don’t have to figure out how to make the impossible possible…that’s God’s job. All we have to do is call out to him…hitting our knees, genuinely praying for his wisdom, strength, and direction…and then following where he leads. He will most certainly lead, no doubt about it. We just have to look and listen for where we are being lead…and then faithfully follow. What a privilege it is to have the Father leading our ever step…through the good and the bad…the highs and the lows! All glory to God for his great wisdom, faithfulness, and love!