God helped Joshua fight his battles, and he’ll help us fight ours, too

By Dean Collins

Every leader in the grand story of God has faced challenges and insurmountable odds at some point on their journey. It’s no mistake or oddity that you and I also have our own times of challenge.

We don’t want to make excuses for ourselves when it comes to obedience. Some of our spiritual forefathers created their own messes because of pride, lust, or lack of faith. Some faced huge challenges as God demonstrated his faithfulness and advanced his Kingdom purposes by leading them straight to and straight through opposition and difficulties. And try as we might, some things in Scripture we just cannot and will never be able to explain, because God has chosen to include mystery in this grand drama we share with each other.

Falling for deception

As capable and faithful as Joshua was, he responded to a significant challenge by falling for deception. He had been strong and courageous and led the children of Israel across the Jordan and into the Promised Land. He had spiritually prepared the nation at Gilgal in advance of their first battle. Joshua was faithful and demonstrated courage many times, yet Joshua and his leaders fell for a deception planned by the leaders of Gibeon. One reason they failed was they did not consult with God in prayer ahead of their decision.

You can’t blame the men of Gibeon for wanting to survive. They saw what happened when Joshua confronted Jericho and Ai, and they were next in line. In order to survive, they deceived Joshua, willing to give up their freedom for protection from him and his God.

Keeping the promises

Joshua and the leaders of Israel made a promise and would now honor the promise, even though they had been tricked. Five kings watched, and the rumors were correct that Gibeon had the protection of Joshua and of his God. So these five joined forces to attack Gibeon, and quickly the men of Gibeon sent a message to Joshua for help. “Don’t relax your hand from your servants,” they pled. “Come quickly and save us and help us, for all the kings are against us.”

Joshua honored his commitment to Gibeon, and God honored his promise to Joshua, sending him assurances that he should not fear but rather advance against the five opposing armies and their kings. Sometimes five at a time, and other times one at a time, Joshua would face his opposition. Again and again God was faithful to keep his promises, and Joshua finally conquered the lands God called him to take.

Facing your battles

So, how many battles are you facing today? Maybe just one, a new battle. Or you may be in the middle of an old one. Maybe the odds appear against you and your situation. We cannot, nor should we ever try to deceive anyone, and certainly it would be foolish to try to deceive God. But we do often deceive ourselves into faulty thinking. We may decide we can handle the situations in front of us on our own. Or we may feel God doesn’t care and won’t respond in our moments of need. Self-deception is powerful, and the author of deception is determined to spread his lies. His plan is to discourage us and to keep us from experiencing the victory God has planned since the beginning of time. And that victory includes helping you and me.

The author of deception plans to discourage us
and to keep us from experiencing the victory God has planned since the beginning of time.

So today maybe we should ask for help. Today we can ask God and perhaps another of God’s servants. Today we can pray, “Don’t relax your hand now. Come and rescue us. Come and supply our need. Come and fight for us, because without you we cannot face this battle.”

Fighting for their life

God wants to hear from us. And he will never abandon us. He will also tap you on the shoulder sometimes and tell you to jump in and help with another who is fighting for their life in service to God. God will not stay silent in your time of need. We must not stay silent or inactive when God calls us to the help of another.

Your time with God’s Word
‭‭Joshua‬ ‭10:6-9, 15, 22, 42-43; ‭11:4-10, 15-20, 23‬ ‭ESV‬‬

To receive daily posts delivered directly to your inbox, complete the form at the bottom of our home page.
To download a printable version of today’s post, click here.

Photo by Hasan Almasi on Unsplash