I love the fact that God just showed up and spoke to Joshua as he’s already marching with thousands of his best fighting men to face the five kings and armies. And of course God blew them apart! It’s a no sweat for Joshua thereafter as God threw them into confusion even before Joshua arrived at the scene. That’s such a welcome way of God!

Joshua 10. 6 The Gibeonites then sent word to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal: “Do not abandon your servants. Come up to us quickly and save us! Help us, because all the Amorite kings from the hill country have joined forces against us.” 7 So Joshua marched up from Gilgal with his entire army, including all the best fighting men. 8 The LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them; I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to withstand you.” 9 After an all-night march from Gilgal, Joshua took them by surprise. 10 The LORD threw them into confusion before Israel, so Joshua and the Israelites defeated them completely at Gibeon. Israel pursued them along the road going up to Beth Horon and cut them down all the way to Azekah and Makkedah.

As Joshua marched up from Gilgal with his entire army, the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them; I have given them into your hand., not one of them will be able to withstand you”. Wow what a promise, what a swift answer to prayer! Wait, there was no prayer, God responded! Another wow! Joshua weas marching God came and affirmed him. Why? He didn’t ask God to. He was marching out with his best men to fight against the 5 kings.

The Zeal of God

So why did God volunteering responded to help Joshua without even his asking him. It speaks to me about the zeal of God. When it’s in God’s will, and in line with his overall plan, there is nothing that will stop God.

It’s one thing for God to respond as we prayed and cried out to him, but it’s another  thing for him to respond and act even before you ask him! Fancy that! That’s what happened to Joshua marching out to fight the five king’s that had come to invade Gibeon a protected tribe of Israel. But it’s amazing because Joshua never asked for God to help them though it’s clear that it’s in the overall plan and mission from God to destroy them all and take the land.  Therefore if you are moving in the will of God and obviously in line, you don’t have to worry of he’s going to help or not, especially it’s for the expansion of His Kingdom, and magnify His Name. So I often thought about what about thousands of us wanting to serve Him in what we think it’s God’s will? Think about Moses in Egypt, when he killed the Egyptian guard who whipped a Jew, don’t you think in his mind it’s in the Jewish God’s will to protect him and help him? Many have asked God for deliverance, healing, protecting, setting free their loved ones from deception, bringing someone to salvation, isn’t all that in God’s will? But alas, many have not heard, and I am one of them. So what’s going on here?

Taking the example of Moses, we can easily answer that, it is God’s will to deliver Israel from Egyptian Pharaoh’s slavery, but it’s not his timing yet, not his way either. Because when the time finally comes, that’s 40 years later, Moses is a changed man, much more humbled, much more exposed to the wiles of the world without the privilege of the Egyptian palace. Then God moved!

God’s Sovereignty and the responsibility of men

You see a pattern here which is the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of men. Joshua had to March out and fight! We have to do the work. But all these have to be penned out in God’s way, not our way. It will be too easy to assume God will do it in our ways, or requests, what we think it’s the most expedient way to do it, and worse still, what’s we think this is what God should do. But God is not answerable to us, He is the Almighty transcendent God who answers to no one, and everything is done on his on wisdom and love, and pleasure. May God teach us more and more to wait up[on the Lord.

I simply love this:

Isaiah 40 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: 31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

You cannot never soar like an eagle, if you don’t wait upon the Lord. You can’t never wait upon the Lord, if God doesn’t stay silent on your prayers. We all grow tired, but those who wait upon the Lord, those who hope in the Lord, shall renew their strength, soar with wings like eagles….will run and not grow weary.

Hope in God, Wait in the Lord,

You will SOAR.