the book of Joshua, chapter five
Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in His hand. Joshua went up to Him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”
“Neither,” He replied, “but as Commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.” [most scholars believe this is an appearing of the pre-incarnate Christ–He accepts Joshua’s worship]
Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked Him, “What message does my Lord have for His servant?”
The Commander of the LORD’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.
Some days, my heart wants to wonder and pray: “God, are You for us or for the biological parents? Are You against or for the judge and this system and these courts? Who exactly are You orchestrating for?” This story of Joshua convicts and astounds me.
When I ask God whose “side” He is on, I imagine He might respond, “Neither. But as the One Who is in control and Sovereign, I have now come. ”
“Neither.”
You. Stand. Alone.
I think, in a way, He is neither for us nor against them (“them” meaning everything that feels like is in the way of our adoption). It’s not either/or . . . us/them. It’s so much more complex than that (a God-of-the-universe-level complex). For Joshua, being the leader of God’s covenant people, it was maybe surprising that the Commander of the LORD’s army wasn’t “for” them and “against” the people of Jericho. He was just The Commander and He had come: He was above all of it.
God stands alone.
His ways are higher and His thoughts are higher and His plans are higher.
“It was not for Joshua to claim God’s allegiance for his cause no matter how right and holy it might be. Rather, the need was for Joshua to acknowledge God’s claim over Joshua for God’s purposes. We tend to approach our battles and causes backwards; we turn things all around and try to marshal God to support us rather than to submit and follow Him.” (quote found here)
My next response and question should be as Joshua’s: fall facedown and ask, “What message do You have for me then?”
God, the Supreme Commander, might reply, “This is holy ground. Take off your shoes in reverence and worship.”
My posture is best as one of worship, not strategy-making or sides-taking. Worship takes me to a place where I am rightly-related to the Sovereign & Holy God, the One Who is not partial to my story or to their story . . . only the story of He Himself, for His Name and for His glory.
So these days, I’m not praying to “win” in the end;
I’m praying for the grace to worship well in the in-between and no matter the outcome.
