Parasitic Relationships

As we roll into Joshua 9 we find the Israelites in an encounter with travelers supposedly from a distant land begging for friendship. As we continue to read we discover the truth is these travelers are really from a neighboring city, but they've put together this grand ruse of packing dry moldy bread and putting on worn out clothes so it looks like they've been traveling a long way when in reality they are the neighbors. Scripture tells us that the Israelites sampled their supplies but didn't seek the Lord's will, and instead of seeing these travelers for what they are, they are taken in. They had all the right answers, they knew the right phrases to earn their trust and so the Israelites swear a treaty with them despite the fact the Lord told them to drive all the people in the land of Canaan out.

As we look back on chapter 8 the Israelites have just won a major victory, the chapter ended with Joshua holding his javelin out, and the victory is the Lord's, He gives them the city and they follow all of His directions. Joshua's erecting an altar to the Lord and reads the laws of Moses to all the people and yet as we make our way through this chapter I'm struck by verse 14 The Israelites sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord. What happened between the chapters? Joshua was so in tune, so tight with God so why did he not stop and seek God in this decision also? Isn't it interesting, that at our high point, when everything has been going great, in the wake of a victory that our focus can shift? It's while we are riding out the high of the victory that we can stumble. And then the Israelites discover who these travelers really are... How often the people in our life, the people we thought we knew reveal their true colors and leave us reeling in confusion and disappointment.

The Gibeonites had heard about Joshua's victories, Like Rahab they'd heard that the Lord had promised them this land, they'd seen city after city fall, instead of going to war with their neighbor's against Joshua they want to join him, but secretly unlike Rahab. They didn't want to serve God, they didn't want to be a part of what He was doing because they loved Him they just wanted what they could get out of it. They decided they wanted in on the action, they wanted to be part of that crowd and the protection it promised, they wanted to live off of the coattails of what God was doing. Everyone has heard of the Israelites and their God, maybe they wanted a little of that fame. Instead of coming honestly, they set out to trick and manipulate the Israelites and their God, but instead of coming to God the Israelite's simply blundered in blindly making decisions. God saw through the deception, He could have told them if they'd only asked.

How many of us have has some friendships like this? You thought they were real, but it turned out it was all an act. You thought they wanted to be your friend, to be apart of what God was doing but it turned out they wanted what they could get out of the relationship and so they became like a parasite feeding off of you, sapping the time and energy and resources out of you. Jealous of your attention, and demanding of you until you were so busy trying to satisfy their ravishing appetite that your ministry, your calling, your relationship with God begins to suffer for it and it became a burden you just couldn't get out from under.

I can't help but think of Rahab's heartfelt plea in chapter 2 verse 12-13 “swear to me by the Lord that you will spare the lives of my family and those who belong to me because I have shown kindness to you," such a different approach. Relationships built on lies and manipulations will never be successful, they will only lead to exhaustion and disappointment.

We have to be careful who we let into our inner circle, who we allow in the position to hold our arms up, who we let into our war room to see our plans and our dreams and speak into our lives. We have to guard what God is doing so people can't come in and drown the fire because they feel threatened by what He is doing. We have to guard our friendships so that the people who just want the fame of what God is doing, they want to be known for hanging out where God is moving but they don't want to actually be involved don't sap away our strength and become a dead weight that we are dragging around.

We find in Joshua the perfect example of a parasitic relationship, as the Gibeonites are faced with battle they immediately call for Joshua to come and save them. Gibeon is an important city in the area and all of its men were good fighters but they still make him bring his army and fight their battle. In fact, they sound like whining children manipulating to get their way in verse 6 begging for Joshua's time, energy and resources.

We need friends who will tell us the truth in love, that will hold our arms up when they won't get anything out of it, who will see what God is doing and encourage our hearts, who will be an ally when the battle does come and will fight it with us and storm heaven's gates on our behalf. We need the kind of friends that are the same in the dark as they are when the spotlight is on. We need to seek the Lord in every friendship, every relationship. We need relationships that are a tandem pull toward the Lord, not us dragging them with us.

It Doesn't Have To Make Sense

Have you ever noticed that when God tells us to do something or calls us to a place it doesn't always make sense? The bible is filled with these moments, from God telling Moses to strike a rock for water to holding his staff over his head so the Israelites can claim the victory, or even when Jesus tells Peter to throw his nets into the water in the heat of the day. Often times the things we are called to, the places He leads us to look ridiculous to others and even ourselves.

As we slide into Joshua 6 we find yet another instance of this as the Lord tells Joshua to lead his soldiers around the walls of Jericho - not once, not twice but every day for 7 days. Not only that, but the priests carrying horns and the ark of the covenant are to go as well. As they are making this hike around the city, the priests are to blow their horns while the people remain silent.

Day 1, they set out and make their way around the walls of the city, we can only imagine the reaction of those inside the city- they were already frightened of the Israelite's, they'd heard the stories of the Lord's provision. The story of the Red Sea and countless other times have been passed around for the last 40 years. They are frightened, they've shut up the city behind them, and they can see the procession get closer and closer, with just the sound of the ram's horns and the stamp of feet, power doesn't have to shout. They can see the dust curl into the sky from all of the feet, this is it, the moment they've all been fearing- but the Israelite's don't attack they keep walking. The people inside the city watch, waiting, ear straining for the sound of battle. But nothing happens after they circle the city they return to the camp. Day 2, same thing. I wonder how many days it took for the intimidation to start wearing off, "ahh guys, don't know if you missed it but the gate is back that way. You've only walked by it twice now..." Day 3... the Israelite's are back at it, I wonder how many times around these city walls before the whispering started. We've done this already and nothing happened. We look ridiculous. It's hot, we're tired, so when is God going to come through on His side of this. How long before the age-old question rose to the surface once again, sure He came through back there with Moses, He came through for our parents or grandparents but what about this time? Will He do it for us?

Day 4 same thing. Day 5, by now it's beginning to feel like a broken record. The people of Jericho have got to be confused because to them this looks ridiculous. This is the army they have feared, so much that they have retreated into the city and shut the gates behind them, but all they've done is walk, and blow their horns. Day 6 looks a whole light like the last 5, but what they don't know is God's getting ready to move, each step around that city takes them closer, each blast of the horns ushers it a little closer, I wonder did they know in those inky hours of darkness before dawn on day 7? Did they sense the difference? As the darkness on the horizon shifted, and the Israelite's once again prepared to repeat what they have done all week. Could you feel the anticipation in the camp, that God was going to come through just like He's promised so many times? Or feel the nervousness,  that comes when we know He is going to come through, we just don't know how. Did the townspeople go about their business as normal as Rahab gathered her family into the very thing that is about to fall? I wonder did she explain the promise that she was clinging to?

God doesn't ask us to understand, He just asks us to show up, and then keep showing up- when you've been doing the same thing over and over again and nothing changes, when you've been praying the same prayer day after day but you can't see a difference, when you've walked around your personal Jericho again and again but the walls are still standing and you can't see any result, keep showing up. Keep praying that prayer, keep doing the last thing He told you to do until He is ready to move.

Jericho never falls on the first round, only in the repetitive act of faith that brings us back each day. It's in the obedience, that the Israelite's returned each time that the walls fell. It's easy to do something once and then give up when the walls don't immediately fall, when our request isn't instantly met, but the lesson of this place is in the waiting. The lesson is in the following even when it doesn't make sense and continuing when we've already done this.

God likes to use what the world deems as ridiculous, He likes taking what we would say is out of place -like Rahab and using it for His glory. So often we want to throw our hands in the air and walk away after the first round, but there are some Jericho's, some strongholds in our lives that can only be won when we buckle down and keep walking. It is here that our faith grows - I don't see the way, but I'm still here. It doesn't make sense, it's not physically possible, but this is where He has called me and this is where I will stay. I may look weird, people may not get it- but my God has promised me this place and I am going to keep walking around this city until the walls fall.

Day 7 dawns and the Israelite's head out but this time when the priests blow their horns the people shout and God moves just like He promised, and the walls crumble. The battles we fight aren't always quick, sometimes they take the day in day out kind of fighting that requires the faith to move past the disappointment of not seeing a change, we get so caught up needing to understand, needing it to make sense when we just need to keep going, to keep obeying and keep walking around our Jerichos until they to fall.

Keep Walking and Let God

In the darkness of Good Friday, it's easy to ask why God has abandoned us -in the wake of broken dreams nailed to a tree, in the face of tragedy that struck out of nowhere in the breathtaking triumph of evil that leaves us speechless- as a hammer prepares to strike a nail that will pierce the Savior. The story of the birth of Christ that we just celebrated a few months back comes to a crushing, agonizing stop.

We know the end of the story- but His disciples didn't have the luxury of reading it like we do, they had to live it and when you are in the moment, you can know all the right answers and battered by the storm you didn't expect. We can't see around the bend, we can't see the light of Sunday while we are walking through the darkness of Friday and Saturday. All they could see is their savior, the one they had waited for, their hope, their dream that had come to pass nailed to a cross. This was the end as far as they could see.

We've all been here, wandering in the darkness, of our own personal Friday' when the pain is just too much, the disappointment too overwhelming and we find ourselves saying it can't end like this... Why God?... Why have you forsaken me? Why did you let it end here? It's easy in these moments to forget that Sunday has already been promised. No matter how dark it gets, no matter how much evil gloats at the win, Sunday is on its way.

Where there is even a shred of light the darkness is shattered. It may look like it is over, it may look like your hope is dead. The people closest to you, the people that we're supposed to love you have hurt you the most. The betrayal of a parent, the reveal of the true character in someone you thought you knew. The broken place that you just can't fix, you've been trying so hard to follow Him, the best you knew how. But now you find yourself in an unfamiliar place and what you thought was going to happen didn't happen. The mission you abandoned the boat for has ended on the cross while "It is finished" echoes in your ears.

We like to skip to the Joy of Easter and the resurrection, the triumph and avoid the darkness before, the pain and the disappointments of the dead places. The places where find ourselves not as lost children restored at the foot of the cross, but followers disappointed because our dream ended here. Everything we thought we knew, withers in this dead place and there's nothing we can do.

As we read through the crucifixion of Jesus in Mark 15 and slip into chapter 16 we find the women who followed Jesus on their way to anoint His body- they don't know He's risen, as far as they know their hope, their dream died on that cross. But here they are, returning to the place in which it was laid to rest. When we are disappointed, it's easy to throw in the towel and walk away, to hide like the disciples. The truth is we're angry, and hurt that God would let it end like this. Like the little boy in the Princess Bride, we want to interrupt shouting "Hold it! You read that wrong!" it can't end like this. So I find the faith of these women remarkable. They witnessed the same thing as the disciples and yet here they are returning to the grave, they don't wait for the others, they don't wait to be directed, they just go, even though they know that there is a stone that they can't move on their own. It is hopeless, many would say pointless, but they go anyway. How many of us need to follow in these ladies footsteps and go anyway? We don't understand it, we don't see the way, but we're going anyway... I think sometimes that's all God wants- for us to show up anyway. Even when it's hard. Even when all we see is the darkness. Even when it looks like it ended in death and disappointment. Even when we can't move the stone in the way, show up.

The same cross that represents death in chapter 15, now bridges the gap into chapter 16 where the stone is rolled away. God is already working out what you are worried about. We may not be able to see Him, and the world around us may feel so dark, it may look like it has ended on the cross- but the Lord is at work in the darkness and the cross has no power because the stone is about to roll away. Even if it ends on the cross, it can't stay there. Friday- with all of the disappointments, and pain and failure is the hinge on which the doors of God's grace will swing wide open. It can't end in the dead place, the end of the book is already written. Evil may win the battle, but it's already lost the war. The victory has already been claimed and He can take every mistake, every broken piece and turn it into a miracle.

Often we see the stone in front of us, and we know we can't move it so we walk away- He won't leave it on the cross, or in the grave, but often we do. In our panic to avoid the pain and disappointments, in the fear that we may end up in uncomfortable places, that He may lead us to a place we don't want to go, that it might end up on the cross we hide and allow the story to die here instead of returning like these women.

The devil can try to destroy what God is doing, he can attack it, he can bury it, he can even try to kill it, he'll bring people into your life to try to tear down what you've been building, to speak death over the dream the Lord gave you. He can try to send people to discourage you, he'll try to make you believe that this is where it all ends. That there is no way out of this dead place- but He can't stop what the Lord is doing so keep walking and let God move the stone.

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Unlikely Vessels In The Hands Of God

I think for the most part when we come to Joshua 2 we tend to skip over Rahab's profession or avoid Rahab entirely. We try to whitewash it a bit, maybe read over that bit of scripture a little faster, the wording can make us feel uncomfortable so we try to soften it.

We have to wonder why God would choose to highlight Rahab in this chapter. Surely there was someone more qualified than this bad girl of centuries past, anyone, more qualified, less messy, someone, with a better reputation. We look for a Snow White or Cinderella or maybe an Esther, but instead, we get Rahab which means insolence, contemptuous, ill-mannered, uncivil, disrespectful, and offensive. Her very name was drawn from a pagan god ra from Egypt, can you find any more of a misfit to take the lead in this story? But God places her in the lead, in all of her unlikely unusable mess.

The bible doesn't go into her story, or what brought her to this place, what pivotal thing had changed in her life that when jumping into the story she has hidden the spies on the roof of her house an act that was treasonous and would have cost her life. But when we reach verse 9 it's obvious that something has changed as she declares boldly that the Lord has given the Israelite's this land, but she goes further than that, her eyes could have told her that.  The Israelites have been wandering the desert for 40 years, the stories of the Lord's provision and protection has been spreading this whole time, so now that we reach this point everyone has retreated in fear to Jericho, Rahab's town and shut the gates behind them. This is the same Jericho that in just a few chapters it's walls will fall. She goes on to say, "the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below." This is a heart change, not just what her eyes have seen. Rahab knew what she was, she could have allowed her worth, her identity, to stay chained to that life. She could have continued living the same old way, kept staying in her comfort zone, remained in Jericho, remained just one more woman forgotten in the annals of time. But something happened in that stronghold in the walls of Jericho, in the weary hours of the night, so that the idolater could recognize the voice of the one true God, hear His call and step out of the status quo, come out of the normal she had been living for so long and into His purpose for her life and in the midst all of the generations to come to the end of time. Not by accident, not by chance, but by divine plan.

This moment is no surprise to God, He knew it was coming since before she was born, every day He looked at her living out of the same mistakes, the same broken choices and He knew that this day was coming. I wonder did He count each step that took her closer to this meeting, did He shush heaven and direct their attention to this moment, this encounter that would set her on a new path?

We are so quick to declare our mistakes, our messy lives unusable. We look at the choices we regret, the places we've stumbled, the places we've fallen short of the mark and label them too big, too bold, too messy for God. But God doesn't see it like we do. Have you ever noticed that we tend to be our own worst critic?

Perhaps like the woman in the New Testament with the issue of bleeding she was desperate, something had to change, she couldn't live like this anymore. She'd heard the reports of what the Lord had been doing, she had witnessed the terror that went before the Lord's people- when the Lord is with you it doesn't matter what is in front of you it will part-. She knows what's coming, she's frightened, she knows what this God of the Israelite's can do, and she is daring to hope. She can't see the whole picture, she doesn't know that she ends up in Jesus's family line.

If the Israelite's had entered their promised land with Moses, we never would have found ourselves here looking at Rahab, in all of her messiness setting the record straight once and for all. Perhaps we aren't told all of Rahab's story so that we all find a bit of ourselves here. A piece of that insecurity we've kept buried for so long whispering doubt to our heart- "He can't use you," "You're too broken," "Your too messed up," too "unforgivable" to have worth. Perhaps it's a word that was planted in your heart as a child, declaring you worthless, purposeless, or unwanted. We see our messiness and maybe we can identify with this woman. Maybe we aren't in the same situation, our scars aren't exactly the same, but we connect with this woman who dared. Dared to challenge what everyone saw her as and instead of being only known as the harlot she steps up and becomes one of the few women known by name in scripture.

God didn't change her before He used her. He didn't wait until she had cleaned up her act- instead, He meets her where she is, like the woman at the well in the New Testament and draws her into the greatest story. God likes to use unlikely heroes, broken vessels, to proclaim His goodness. He puts us in places, we don't belong, perhaps so it's all the more obvious that it is His hand. He uses broken vessels so that when He pieces us back together there is no mistaking His fingerprints. Sometimes the very thing we are trying to skip over is what God is trying to use to set the stage. No matter how bad you've messed up, how messy your life has gotten, what titles you've been carrying like Rahab He can take them all and replace them with a new name, son and daughter.

The same God that hung the stars in the sky, set the boundaries of the ocean, and parted the Red Sea and dried up the ground so His children could walk across on dried ground looked down at Rahab and said you are perfect, you are going to take this one, I am going to use you in ways you never imagined and I have a destiny for you that will change the world. How incredible is that? The creator of the heavens and earth looked down and pinpointed one insignificant, messy woman and placed her in a role that would change the world and He's looking at you too.

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Silent Battles

The Israelites have been wandering in the desert for 40 years, Moses has died and now Joshua is leading the people. As we reach Joshua 2, Joshua is sending two spies to look over the land but especially Jericho. It's not all that different from Moses's entrance plan - except for one key detail, my bible says that he sent them secretly. He didn't take a poll, didn't wait to see what the popular opinion was, he didn't even give everyone a chance to have an opinion, Joshua just tells them to go. The last time they sent a group, but this time he is only sending two spies. This isn't a pleasure trip anymore, he's preparing for war, he's going on the offensive.

I think it's intriguing that the bible says he sent them secretly- he was in charge, in the last chapter it was just saying that if anyone disobeyed his orders they would be put to death so he didn't need to send them secretly but he chooses to. 

Not everyone needs to know what's going on, or what we are planning, the easiest way to kill something is in its infancy when it needs to be protected and guarded. So often we allow people into positions they don't belong in instead of drawing close to the Lord and letting Him water what He's already planted in our hearts. We need to be a little more careful about who we allow in our corners to see behind the curtain and witness the little beginnings, so we don't mistake their voices for His. Sometimes our friends are good to us, but they aren't good for us, and they end up hindering everything that God is trying to do. 

There are times when we must fight the battles we face silently, in the dead of night with only the Lord by our side, moments when we must prepare quietly for the birth of something new before it is ready to face the world. The truth is you don't need their input, or their approval, there is only one voice you need to listen to. And when you have so many voices talking to you, telling you what to do and what they think the Lord will do, it can be hard to discern His voice amongst the noise. 

Often it is the unexpected opposition, that brings you to your knees. You expect it from the enemy but when it in your own camp, from your own friends, from your family it can crumble everything that has been taking form. Perhaps this is why Joshua sent them secretly. Maybe he knew if he sent them openly and the people heard a report that they didn't like they would refuse to follow God it to the promised land like their parents had. So he sends spies ahead secretly, to go look over the land and report back to him.

It's funny how the people the closest to us, the ones that know us the best can be the same ones that scoff at what God is doing in our lives. "You can't do that you're too young," "You can't do that you are too old," "Why would He call you to this place?" "You have no experience," Like flames, these words eat away at everything that you've been building turning them to ashes in our hands until we begin to believe these words. 

The spies return to Joshua in verse 23 and deliver their report which perfectly illustrates why we must be careful about who is in our corner, "The Lord has given us this whole land" they could have come back and told him he was crazy, that it was going to be too hard, that it meant fighting, that there were walls that had to come down but they don't, instead they reaffirm what the Lord has already promised. Right now they may not be able to see what exactly God is doing, they can't see how He is going to provide yet- but they know He is going to.

Make sure the people who you allow to walk with you in the silent battles are the ones that will hold your arms up when they grow weary, the ones that will declare what the Lord has already spoken even if it doesn't make sense when you are too tired to do so. We need people who will fight silently beside us and encourage us when we begin to falter. Yes you are going to have to fight this battle, yes there are giants you are going to have to slay but the Lord has given you this land. This place you don't think you'll conquer, this marriage, this relationship, this journey may not be easy, and you may feel like you have been wandering in the wilderness for so long, but this land has already been given to you by the God who opens doors no one can open and shuts doors that no one can shut and He will not fail you or abandon you (Joshua 1:5).

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Don't Trust Your Eyes, Trust His Promise.

The Israelites are way into their desert journey toward the promised lands, they've faced battles, and witnessed His provision, and have seen the glory of God come to rest on Mount Sinai in Exodus 24. They've got some experience under their belt, so it's little surprise when God gives the word to move on and enter the promised land. I picture a scene from the end of Wagon Train episodes where the wagon master tells them to "Load 'em up and move'em out"... can you tell I watch a lot of old westerns?

This is it! The end is in sight, they're almost there. Like pulling on to your street after a  long trip, relief begins to flow. They are almost finished how sweet those words must have felt! This journey is almost over! But... there always seems to be a but. Because the truth is life isn't easy, and the home stretch is rarely a cake walk. What lays between them and everything they have been promised is scary, it tests what they've learned along this whole trip. The bible doesn't go into great detail about this stretch of the trip, but it describes it as a terrible wilderness. How many of us, thought we had had it made, and just when we thought it was over, the battle was finished, we found ourselves in a terrible wilderness? We weren't expecting it and so it blindsides us, and it begins to chip away at everything we thought we knew. The experience we've earned seems small and everything we've been through up to this point pales in comparison to this place.

They can see their destination, what they have been fighting for, for so long is nearly in their grasp, and maybe in their heads, they thought this was going to be easier. Maybe they are still living off the high of winning the last battle, and they expect this place to be easy but when it's not their confidence wavers. We've won the last battle, we've seen what God can do and then suddenly our focus shifts and what we were so sure of begins to waver. Maybe we aren't even sure what caused it, but something's changed and we can't put your finger on just what it is, but it feels different.

We're tired, and just want it to be over. We want to be done and move on, we are sick and tired of trekking through the desert. If the devil can't make you quit along the journey and run back to what God's led you out of, then he will try to poison the very thing you've waited so long to reach. I think this is where the Israelites found themselves, so close and yet so far and they just want to be done. Like after a really long hike, your legs hurt, your tired, you can see your car and you just want to get there. You don't want to have to fight your way up one more hill, you just want to be done. But here they are traveling through yet another wilderness. They finally reach the threshold of the promised land- the Bible says that God had set apart this land for them, it had their name on it, all they had to do was follow Him in- but they hesitate.

No sooner has the Lord told them to go take possession of what He has given them then the people come to Moses begging to send some men ahead to scout out the land. They want to send some people on ahead to find the best route and some nice cities to visit (Deuteronomy 1:22), they are done roughing it, no more off-roading, no more hills to climb, no more wondering if God's going to come through. The pillar of fire they've been following is no longer good enough, they want more and just like that the lesson's they have learned slip away. They start to follow what they see instead of trusting the one who has sustained them every step of the way. It's easy to fault them but I think we often do the same thing, we refuse to move until we ask everyone's opinion, we need our friend's seal of approval before we can go any further. We need the whole agenda not just the next stop on this trip. We see the giants that stand before us, we set our focus on the walls that must be brought down and we doubt that He can do what He has been doing this whole time. Sure He came through back there... but what about this time? The age-old question pops back up, "Why didn't you leave us in bondage? It would have been better than dying out here trying to beat something we can't beat."

Their focus has changed and they are relying on their own understanding to guide them. Their eyes tell them it's too hard, the scout's report isn't what they wanted to hear and doubt creeps in. Have you been here? You were so sure, you thought you were prepared but then the doubt creeps in with all of the "What if's" and "I can'ts" to shift our focus from what is promised and crumble our faith. They stopped trusting the Lord to lead the way, that He knew the best route, that He would pick the best place for them to camp each night and so they strike out on their own and then blame the Lord when they don't like what they hear from the scouts. Where are you, God? What were you thinking? So often we find ourselves in this place, because of our own foolishness when we try to run ahead instead of trusting that the Lord will yet again provide.

We come to verse 30 and find Moses trying to reassure the people and remind them of who God has revealed Himself to be, of all the times He's provided in vain. Anytime we place people in a role only God can fill, we are setting ourselves up for defeat, we can't survive off of the faith of others. We can't trust our own eye to guide us. What started out as a simple "Here it is, go move in" has come to a screeching halt and not even the reminder of everything they have gone through can get it moving again. How often do we react like the Israelites off of what we see instead of trusting that He will make a way? We don't want to dive into the deep end, we want to dip our toe in first and check to see if the water is to our liking. And we look back to see how it compares to our life before while we were in bondage

We allow our focus to slip from the firm foundation that we've been building with each time we've witnessed the Lord come through to shifting sand and we need to see the whole path instead of just the next step. We want to do a little sightseeing, maybe make a reservation or two so we don't have to camp out anymore. The pillars of cloud and fire just aren't good enough now. If He can make the Israelite's win the battle because Moses is holding his staff over his head, why is it so different here. He's provided over and over again, what makes us think that it will any different this time. Look at the callouses you've earned, the battle scars that mark that you have survived, feel the salt water clinging to your skin as you walked through the parted sea on dry ground and remember. Look back and see all the places that He's come through and then recenter your focus on Him. It doesn't matter what people think. It doesn't matter how tall the walls are, it doesn't even matter how hard this leg of the journey is because He's already promised to go before you and He is bigger than anything you are going to face- and not one thing is going to touch you that hasn't already passed through His hands.

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It Doesn't Look Like I Thought It Would...

As the Lord led the Israelites out of Egypt in Exodus 13 the bible explains why He led them through the desert. Despite the fact that they left arrayed for battle they were not prepared to face the battles which lay ahead so God takes them the long way around. They've crossed the Red Sea, they've witnessed the Lord's provision. They're learning to step in tandem with God- but they are still complaining and falling back into that old way of thinking, of asking God why He brought them out into the wilderness to kill them so when we reach Exodus 17 we are taken by surprise with what we read.

At the beginning of this chapter, the Israelites are echoing the same complaints, the same worries from the last time things got a little uncomfortable. They've seen over and over again that the Lord will provide, and yet they still doubt. We find the people in the midst of another tantrum session, whining and worrying that He won't come through with the water they need. Sure, He came through last time, but what about this time seems to be a theme throughout this forty-year trek of the bible. But as we continue to read [spoiler He came through] we find that the Israelites now face the very thing they went off-roading to avoid, battle. I am going, to be honest, I have to wonder what makes them any more prepared? They're still doubting, still messing up, still questioning God's grace, surely it would be better to go around. What makes them qualified to face battle now, that they didn't have at the beginning of this trip? I didn't read about any boot camp or basic training - in fact, Moses was just asking the people why they were putting their God to the test, these people sound anything but battle ready. So what changed? Was it maybe the blisters?

The calluses that reminded them of every time they thought they were lost, every time they thought this was the end, every time there was no way out- and He came through. Maybe the provision they had witnessed every step of this journey, from the moment they were set free to this patch of sand. The provision they'd held in their own hands and seen with their own eyes. Perhaps they needed the lessons they'd learned on the way to this spot to prepare them for this fight. They needed some experience under their belts so they'd be ready for battle - there's no water but He's our Provider. There's no food, but He's my Life Giver. It's not what I expected, it's not as easy as I thought it was going to be, but He is my Sustainer.

They've come as far as they can, and now they've got to deal with some things- in their case, it's the Amalekites, it's a physical army, it's something they can see. But I bet there are some of us who need to deal with some things too, maybe it's not something we physically need to attack but maybe it's something emotionally or spiritual, maybe it's been ravaging your family for generations and here is where it needs to be laid to rest. Here is where the battle needs to be waged because we can't go forward, we can't move into our promised lands until we fight this battle. But we've been running, we've got the armor, we've seen His provision but we doubt our ability to win the battle. We're afraid that it will be too hard to beat, and deep down you know He is with you, but all you can see is the enemy. All you can see is the issue, the thing that needs to be vanquished and it feels so big. We know God's right there with us, we know He has lead us to this place - you've seen the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire - but you still can't see the way out.

Maybe that's the whole lesson of the dry season, to compound in our memory that He will always make a way. No matter how dark it gets, no matter how big it looks, or painful it feels He will always make a way. We may not understand it, it may not make sense, it may not look like we thought it would but He will always come through.

I can't help but wonder what Joshua was thinking as Moses tells him to take some men and go out to fight while he stands on a hill holding a staff in the air. Hold on let me get this straight, I'm going into battle while you stand on that hill holding a stick above your head... right. That's showing them, Moses, I think you've been in the sun a little too long. The desert is getting to you.

Moses doesn't tell Joshua what the result will be, he also doesn't explain why he is going to do this, he just tells Joshua to go. The bible doesn't record a response, only that the next morning he goes out with the men he selected to fight. He doesn't have the whole picture, but he goes anyway. Moses heads up to the hill, and it still doesn't make sense. Moses lifts his staff into the air and the Israelites begin to win the battle, it doesn't look like what they thought it was going to- they witnessed the Red Sea swallowing the last enemy they faced but this time it's different. This time they have a more proactive role, this time they are fighting.

There are some places He leads us where we have to pick up our own swords and do battle with some things that have come to the surface in our lives- maybe its an addiction, maybe it's the way we are thinking, maybe it's the words we are speaking, maybe it's a relationship, maybe it's some areas in our hearts that need to be taken back. Maybe it's something has torn through your family for generations, and He's brought you to this place so you can pick up your sword, look it in the eye and say I have carried you out of captivity with me, and I have carried you across this wasteland but I am not taking you one more step. You have no place in the promised land on the other side of this season. I may not be able to see the way, and I may not feel prepared but I read the back of the book and I know the victory is mine. 

I think this is what makes verse 14 stand out so much, the Lord tells Moses to write down what happened so that it would be remembered. But then He tells Moses to make sure Joshua hears about it, Joshua was there he had a first-hand experience of what transpired and yet God wants Moses to make sure that he hears. Joshua had witnessed the battle in the front row seat, so why is it necessary to make sure he knows, isn't that a bit obvious?

"Hey Joshua, you won!"

"Yeah I know, thanks..."

Could it be that he was too close, that he was so busy fighting that he couldn't understand why... he was reacting to the situation, and so could it be that he couldn't see what God was doing. Might it be that we get so caught up in fighting the battles we are facing that we miss what God's done? Even though we don't understand, even when we can't see Him, He has never left our side, in the thick of the battle He's still providing, still meeting every need.

So the Lord tells Moses to make sure that Joshua knows, tell him I was at work, and not only did I give you the victory over this battle but I am blotting out the name of who you just fought. I didn't just promise you the battle, I am giving you the war. I didn't just make you the overcomer, I made you the victor. That thing you've been wrestling with I already crushed it and I didn't it in a way you never expected.

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