The Battle is Not Yours But God’s
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us,
who is against us?
Romans 8:31 NASB
No weapon that is formed against you will prosper;
And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
And their vindication is from Me,” declares the Lord.
Isaiah 54:17 NASB
Background
We have reached the last session of our Equipped to Lead for the Single Parent Study, and I want to recap what we have learned before beginning this last study. We have learned that, as single parents, God will equip us to lead our families.
- He gives us courage when we are discouraged or feel incompetent.
- When we are firmly planted in Him, we can offer stability for our children.
- We hand Him the authority over our lives and watch His plan unfold rather than our human plans.
- We learn to stay the course, even when we may desire to attempt to take over God’s work because of exhaustion or distractions (and there will be plenty of each of those).
- We have seen good examples of leaders we desire to emulate and leaders who put their desires before those of their family.
- We dedicate our parenting and children to God.
- We know for a healthy connection with our children we need to build trust.
In the last study, we are going to talk about battles. I encourage you to listen to Phil Wickham’s song Battle Belongs before or after finishing this study.
Who is our Commander?
As Joshua was sizing up the city of Jericho, a man appeared nearby with a drawn sword. Joshua strode over to him and demanded, “Are you friend or foe?”
“I am the Commander-in-Chief of the Lord’s army,” he replied.
Joshua fell to the ground before him and worshiped him and said, “Give me your commands.”
“Take off your shoes,” the Commander told him, “for this is holy ground.” And Joshua did.
Joshua 5:13-15 TLB
First let’s look at who brought Israel success. Who was in charge?
Read Joshua 5:13-15 above and notice what Joshua is doing. He is sizing up the city, maybe making human plans of how it would be easiest to conquer it.
Are you sizing up your situations today? Is it overwhelming? Do the walls seem too tall? Single moms and dads know a little bit about battles, not in Joshua’s terms, but court battles, parenting disagreements that seem like war sometimes.
At one point, my ex-husband found it necessary to have two lawyers. God graciously gave me the verse from 2 Chronicles 20:15.
Thus says the Lord to you, ‘Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s.
Our Response
Let our response be like Joshua’s response. As God appears, Joshua’s response is “give me your commands”.
When God is in charge, our lives are “holy ground”.
David Guzik writes in reference to these verses:
Before Israel could conquer anything else in Canaan, they had to be conquered by God. Joshua’s complete submission was a demonstration that at this time, Israel truly accepted God’s rule. This is a missing element in a life of victory for many believers; they have not been, and are not continually being, conquered by God. They fail to accept His authoritative rule over every aspect of life.
How Will Victory Come?
We should pray and should plan, for we never know whether victory will take place through divine intervention or human preparation.
Eugene Peterson
What is noteworthy in studying the battles in the book of Joshua is:
God never brought victory about in the same way. God’s ways may seem utterly foolish to us.
Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
I Corinthians 1:20 NIV
Obviously, we know at the battle of Jericho victory came through marching around the city for seven days and involved blowing trumpets (Joshua 6).
Why would God desire the Israelites to go to battle in this way? Because God receives the glory, not Joshua, not the people. It is too easy as humans to take the glory intended for God for ourselves. I appreciate how this connection in the New Testament recalls to our minds the Battle at Jericho.
That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with blowing your own horn before God. Everything that we have—right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start—comes from God by way of Jesus Christ. That’s why we have the saying, “If you’re going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God.”
1 Corinthians 1:31 MSG
Victory Is Possible Even When We Make Mistakes
The next battle at Ai we see an overconfident people battling on their own terms. We remember back to the ETL 4 Stay the Course when the Israelites trust in their own skills, and they are then defeated (Joshua 7).
They go on to regroup, repent, and win the battle but only with God’s help. God gives plans for a strategic ambush the Israelites follow. The Moody Bible Commentary calls God, “The Master of strategy and timing”.
Eugene Peterson writes, “Ai represents the battles we fight that are minor yet unsuccessful. But Ai also represents those failures that become victories. The gospel has an energy in it that will give us the wisdom and the will to pull ourselves together again…”
God works even through our mistakes.
Victory Comes When We Respond in Faith
Moving on we remember the story in chapter 9 of how the Gibeonites deceive Israel, and now we see Israel going to defend the Gibeonites in the Southern Campaign. See Joshua 10:9. Joshua does his part and God keeps His promise.
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.” So Joshua came upon them suddenly by marching all night from Gilgal.”
Notice Joshua marches all night and this is no easy task. Read what David Guzik writes,
“This took initiative and hard work on Joshua’s part. The march from Gilgal to Gibeon involved a climb of 3,300 feet (1,000 meters), over about 20 miles (32 kilometers). This was eight to ten hours of hard marching, all through the night.”
In Joshua 10:10 God brings the kings of the Amorites into confusion, God confounds them. We read on in verse 11 that God threw large stones (hailstones) from heaven. More died from the hailstones than from the sword (God receives the glory). In verse 13, we read the sun stopped and daylight was extended.
Who can stop the sun? Only God. David Guzik also writes,
“God’s miraculous work was much greater than Israel’s work. Yet we notice that Joshua didn’t passively wait for the hail to come. He did what he could do in partnership with God, and God did what only God could do.”
There was no day like that before it or after it, when the Lord listened to the voice of a man; for the Lord fought for Israel. Joshua 10:14
God fights for you too.
The Journey to Victory May Seem Long
In the last part of chapter 10:28-40 we see key cities taken through lightning like raids. However, most battles we fight in this life are not so quick and easy. Although miracles happen, most of life is spent here in the thick of things.
Read Joshua 11. As Joshua continues to battle the Northern Kingdoms, we see that “Joshua made war a long time with all those kings.” It is estimated it lasted 5 to 7 years. God was with Israel but it was not a quick work.
For my sons, there was also a continual spiritual battle for their souls. They grew up in two different homes with two contrasting sets of values. This was a long battle. I did not always think that God saw, but He did.
We also see Joshua faces new challenges. These armies were vast and had chariots.
“They came out, they and all their armies with them, as many people as the sand that is on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots.” Joshua 10:4
God tells Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them…”. As you face new challenges, God desires to speak the same words to you. I cannot promise you, dear reader, that life will go as you planned. I can promise you that Jesus will be with you.
The only way of victory is steadfast faith and endurance in Jesus.
Take Away
What does all this battle talk mean for us? As family leaders, we need to be in continual contact with God about what our next step is as Joshua was: the next step for those in our care, for those we are leading to do the holy work of parenting and leading your family well.
Reflection
- What “battles” are you facing? Bring them to God. Ask for wisdom and direction in your “next step”.
Feel free to comment below.
Sources: https://enduringword.com/#commentary,
Rydelnik, Michael and Vanlaningham, Michael. Moody Bible Commentary. Chicago, Moody Publishers, 2014.
Peterson, Eugene. Conversations The Message With Its Translator. Colorado Springs, NavPress, 2007.
You want a desert, but you do not want to heat up your house by turning on the oven. Try this no-bake Chocolate Tart. Our family loves the combination of chocolate and raspberries.