We all struggle. Sometimes it feels as if we are in
a battle, whether physical, mental or spiritual. The closer we come to God the
more aware we become of spiritual battles waging in and around us. Even when we
are aware of the spiritual battle, it can seem daunting, even impossible, to
continue fighting, especially when we have asked for help or deliverance. Why
doesn’t God help us? Why doesn’t He fight for us?
The Israelites had similar feelings, I’m sure, when they came
to enter the Promised Land and faced army after army. They had to defeat these
armies before they could inhabit the Land God promised them. He had already
promised to give it them, if God wanted them to live there, why did they have
to fight for it?
Joshua 6:2 New American
Standard Bible (NASB)
The Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have
given Jericho
Joshua 8:1-2 New American
Standard Bible (NASB)
Now the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not fear
or be dismayed. Take all the people of war with you and arise, go up to Ai;
see, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his
land. You
shall do to Ai and its king just as you did to Jericho
Joshua 10:8 New American
Standard Bible (NASB)
The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not
fear them, for I have given them into your hands; not one of them shall stand
before you.”
Joshua 11:6 New American
Standard Bible (NASB)
Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be
afraid because of them, for tomorrow at this time I will deliver all of them
slain before Israel
Every time Joshua and the Israelites faced an enemy or a
city to be captured God said the same thing. “Do not be afraid, I have defeated
them.” The people still had to fight in some way, though at Jericho
God is not bound by time. He does not have to wait for the
battle to be over. He already has victory over the enemy. The end has not come,
but God already has victory over satan. The devil will continue fight and wage
war, but he will not win.
Joshua entered battle knowing that they would win because
God was with them and God had promised victory. They were fighting God’s
battles and therefore could not lose. There was one battle they lost, because
they fought without God, assuming He would be with them. But it should be the
other way around, we should fight with God, following His lead and fighting His
battles.
There are times when we fight battles God doesn’t want us to
fight; these would be battles to defend ourselves, battles to get our own way,
battles for our own purposes. Some of them may even seem like good things, but
they are not battles God wants us to wage. We need to pray first, as Joshua
did, ask for God’s help but also ask for His will and guidance. Find out if
that is a battle God wants us to fight. Then we need to proceed as God directs,
remembering that His strategy is often unlike ours, and may even seem illogical
(remember Jericho
God doesn’t remove our need to fight, He removes our need to
worry about the outcome. He has already won the battle, we only need to fight
with Him.
Fighting our battles is necessary for us; it makes the
victory personal, it shows us God’s power, it shows us the seriousness of the
fight. If we never had to fight, we wouldn’t care about anything. Watch a child
that is always given what they want; they act as if everything belonged to them
without even asking and have no concern for those around them. They have no
respect for those “beneath” them, for those who gave them what they have, or
for what they have been given. They are not aware of their proper place in
life. Fighting the battle is good for us.
We need to be aware of the battle. We need to trust God. We
need to see what is at stake. The only way we can see any of this is to be
involved in the battle.
Ask God to help you fight. Ask Him to give you the strength
for the battle. Ask Him to help you see His power at work, and to make it
visible to others through you.
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