Welcome!

So much of life is waiting. . .

As a Christian, I am waiting for a lot--for God to do His refining work in me, for Jesus to return, for me to GET how much God loves me and for me to see what He is doing . . .

What to do in the meantime? I have learned much about what the Lord is trying to teach me, tell me and show me through the discipline of daily time spent reading the Bible. So often we make this time harder than it has to be.

This blog was born out of wanting to share what God is showing me and wanting to be an example that daily time with God is not a deep or mysterious thing (well, every once in a while it can be), but simply a time to read scripture and note what jumps out at you that day. We don't have to be scholars or super-holy or ministry leaders to do this. Some days I hit the jackpot and others I come up empty--but only by persevering do I give God the space in which to speak and myself the stillness in which to hear and obey.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Another "Aha!" Moment

A few months ago I posted about how sometimes I will suddenly apprehend a truth that seems, in hindsight, pretty obvious, and not anything new at all. Today would be another day like that! In Joshua 10, Joshua and the Israelites are going to go fight some more Canaanites. The Lord says in verse 8:

And the LORD said to Joshua, "Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands. Not a man of them shall stand before you."

My Bible footnote (yay for footnotes) points out that the Lord had given Joshua the land, yet he still has to go and fight for it. Bells, whistles, applause, I think it has clicked:

The Lord can give us the victory in an area, but we still have to go and fight to take possession of it. The Hebrews knew that the Lord had assured them victory because He told Joshua. However, it wasn't a victory of "Sit down on the couch and watch TV, and then I'll take care of the bad guys and you can move in tomorrow." Sometimes the Lord does move that decisively (Egyptians in the Red Sea), but not usually. The army had to go and fight. The Lord did intervene, in this case with hail and the sun standing still, but the soldiers had to march and Joshua had to lead.

So, when I read in the Bible that the Lord has given me everything I need (2 Peter 1:3), do I just sit and hope that I feel okay with that? I don't think so. I think my battle, in that area and others, is to have faith to believe that what the Lord says is true (the Israelites had to believe that they would win the battle even as they were fighting). I also must seek to know the Lord by prayer and reading scripture and obeying what I know to be true. Even when it looks like I am losing--when it doesn't look or feel like God is enough--I have to believe He is and walk accordingly.

I'm sure I have heard messages about this marriage of God's promises and our work (and let me be clear, salvation itself is a whole other animal), but I've never quite seen how it is all supposed to work together. I hope that I will be able to start playing my part in the battle with faith and determination, trusting that the Lord will give me the ultimate victory.
Posted by at
Labels: , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)