Getting It Wrong

There's a brief episode near the beginning of the book of Joshua that I kind of like.

You see, there's a battle ahead for Israel. A battle to claim the land God promised them. Many obstacles stand in their way, including numerous enemy peoples who wan nothing more than to wipe them from the face of the earth.

And here we find Israel's leader Joshua, looking towards the spot of the approaching battle.

Then a mysterious man appears with a sword. It might be an angel...but right here we don't know. Whatever the case, it seems that Joshua is not entirely sure what is happening. He asks,"Are you for us, or for our enemies'?"

In general, this is a good question. We need to know who is on our side so that we can plan ahead and think things through.

But here, it's the wrong question.

The answer given to Joshua by this interloper is a haunting one. It tosses aside his assumptions about getting supporters on his side and calls into question the manner in which he is looking at everything.

It is simply this:

"Neither," he replied, "but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come."

In one sentence, this stranger changes everything. He basically lets Joshua know that he needs to stop worrying about what others--including God--are doing for him and start worrying about what he is doing for the Lord.

So whose side are we on? What assumptions do we make? How many times do I assume that I need people--that I need God on my side to be right? To win an argument? To justify myself?

As Christians, we like to speak for God an awful lot. I guess in some ways I'm trying to speak for God as I write this journal. And there's good reason for all of this. We know God. We have a relationship with Him. We pray and read the Scripture He has given us. It just kind of makes sense.

But sometimes....sometimes we start to see things as Joshua may have. We begin to need people, or things, or God to be on our side or not. We need to be right. We start to speak entirely for God and filter everything through that lens. We don't take time to listen.

When Joshua asked his question, he may have been thinking this way. But he was forced to listen, told in no uncertain terms that God was on no one's side. That the only one who truly spoke for God is God.

That we'd better be on God's side.

When Joshua heard this he fell facedown. Dare we do any different?