HOUSE OF ROBERTS BLOG

In the Bible, there is this interaction that a man named Joshua has with God. It is found in the book of Joshua 5:13-15. Joshua has become the leader of the Hebrew people; he was the understudy of a great leader named Moses and he was also a warrior. He had already led the Hebrew army in a few battles, and now he faces a new challenge to lead these people into a new territory, conquer the existing nations, and settle there. 

Chapter five finds him on the precipice of this great military endeavor, but the night before it begins he has this crazy interaction. He sees this armed warrior walking toward him, and he does what I think we would all do. With his hand on his sword, he asks, “Are you a friend of foe?” The man replies, “Neither one…I am the commander of the Lord’s army.” All of a sudden Joshua realizes that it is God and he quickly bows down and says, “I am at your command…What do you want your servant to do?”

Let me give you the Michael paraphrase on this section of scripture. When Joshua encounters God, he wants to know if God is with him or not, but God’s response is, “Joshua you are asking the wrong question.” “It’s not, am I with you, the question is are you with me?” In other words, I’m not along for this ride Joshua; you don’t get to do what you want and just expect me to accept and bless it. I called you Joshua and I have a plan for how I want you to go about this phase of your life, but it is going to take you humbling yourself, submitting to my Lordship, and following my lead. If you do that, then what you are attempting to do will be a success. Joshua bowing, is him saying, “I’m with you God, I will follow your lead.”

Whose side are you on Dad? I think sometimes our approach to God, is one where we do what we think is best and then expect Him to be okay with it. We’ve all been at places where something is not working out in our lives and we have asked that cosmic question, “God are you even with me?” The book of Joshua says that we are asking the wrong question. Life is not about asking God if He is with us, but asking ourselves if we are with God. Dad, you have this call on your life. Like Joshua, you have been commissioned to lead your family, to take ground, and to make a life for them and the future generations that will follow. With that, our posture should not be one with his hand on his sword, seeing who is with us and who is against us, but rather, kneeling before God and submitting to his Lordship in our lives. The greatest posture you can have Dad is one of kneeling. I know that is not easy to do, because sometimes God asks you to do things that culture says are wrong or outdated. The Bible, God’s Word, will at times even offend and irritate you, but that doesn’t matter if you have made the decision to be on God’s side.

All I know is that when I follow God and His ways, I tap into His supernatural empowerment, fellowship, and blessing. Life with God is so much better than life without Him. That doesn’t mean that there won’t be hard times or obstacles to overcome, but it does mean that you have the creator of the universe with you. Dad, you need to be on God’s side, your wife and children need you to daily kneel before the Lord and say the words that Joshua said, “I am at your command…What do you want your servant to do?”