Time to Fight

Prayer

God Makes It Hard

So, we’re going to pick back up in our journey through the story of the Old Testament, this time the book of Joshua.

Israelites are where they were through the book of Deuteronomy, camped out in the Transjordan, the land on the eastern side of the Jordan River. They’re primed to enter into the land of the Canaanites, land God has promised his people all the way back to Abraham, the one through whom God had chosen to make a great nation, a nation through which every other nation would be blessed.

In our journey we walked through the promise being carried through subsequent generations - to Isaac, Jacob, whose family moves to Egypt, becomes enslaved for 400 years until God raises up Moses to lead his people out. We’ve covered the covenant agreement at Sinai, the Ten Commandments, God shaping and forming his people to become a holy nation, 40 years wandering in desert, final instructions to all the people (Deuteronomy) until now, finally, the moment has come to enter the land.

Moses has passed away, the mantle of leadership has passed to Joshua and God is now telling Joshua - get your people ready, it’s time to go, you’re about to cross over to conquer the land. Joshua 1:1-11...

After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. 3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. 5 No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. 6 Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. 7 “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” 10 So Joshua ordered the officers of the people: 11 “Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Get your provisions ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you for your own.’”

I want to point something out - God could have made this whole taking the land a whole lot easier. The land they are to take possession of is currently occupied - they are going to have to conquer the land. There’s lots of ways God could have done this so they would not have to engage in a long, hard military campaign against seven nations who were larger and stronger than the Israelites.

Seven nations who are living in fortified cities. Seven nations with experienced soldiers. Seven nations that live in the midst of difficult terrain - hilly, mountainous.

When God brought them out of Egypt, he himself conquered the Egyptian army - he sent plague after plague, and then God was the one who opened up the sea of reeds so they could cross over and then closed it back up, destroying the Egyptian army. The Israelites did not have to do anything.

God could have done something similar here - he could have sent a plague on these nations - the Canaanites, the Hittites, Girgashites, just wiping them out. He could incite them against one another so that they destroyed each other. So that all Israel had to do was march in and claim the land.

But God doesn’t - they are going to have to fight for it. And that fight is going to have to be long and hard and difficult. They are going to be taking on larger and superior armies who have the defensive advantage. And if you remember, the last time they faced the prospect of trying to enter in and taking the land (40 years earlier), they chickened out. The Israelites rebelled and refused to enter the land. I think it’s instructive for us to consider why God is doing it this way - and to look at what God gives them as they prepare to enter the land.

Be Strong and Courageous

Jonathan Haidt is a social psychologist and a professor at New York University. He’s just come out with a book called, “The Anxious Generation,” in which he lays out the evidence of how much more anxious, depressed, and fragile Generation Z is. He makes the argument that this is a result of two things - one, overuse of cell phones, especially social media (this is especially true for girls). The second thing is really interesting, it’s the lack of free play.

Free play is the play that most of us grew up in - you know, you’re sitting inside watching TV (at least this was true for me), and your parents booted you out. That’s enough, go outside. And you just went outside and played - knock on doors of your neighborhood friends, you’d roam around, figuring out what to play. The big rule was just to make sure you were home in time for dinner.

And this is the part that Haidt points to that is so vital about free play, that makes it so different from what so many kids experience today - who are much more likely to be involved in organized sports leagues or dance teams, travel teams. Everything is structured, supervised by adults, and handled by adults. Free play is anything but that - as kids you have to figure out what to play, what the rules will be, how to enforce them, handle conflicts as they arise - without adult intervention.

As a result, you’re more likely to try stupid things - at times, risky things. Which is a very different thing than facing “danger” on a video screen - which has no real consequences, heart never gets racing. No real courage necessary.

Great irony is that its the overprotected children end up weaker, more uncertain, hesitant in life - because everything is handled for them. Haidt’s argument is that kids need those types of experiences to develop resilience.

In a similar way, this is what God is doing with Joshua and his people. They are going to have to face hard things. Real challenges. Situations where they face real danger. And it teaches us that this is a primary way in which God builds resilience in us. He makes us strong in our convictions, in our faith in him. Which is exactly what see God telling Joshua in this passage.

The primary command, the exhortation that God gives Joshua in this passage is, be strong and courageous. Verse 6, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore their fathers to give them.” Again, verse 7, “Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you.” Third time, verse 9, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

I’m pretty sure God wants Joshua and his people to be strong and courageous. Here’s the thing - explains why the Israelites must engage the battle, actually conquer the land. You cannot demonstrate strength or courage in situations where none is required. If things are easy, offer no resistance, no difficulty, then you don’t need strength.

If things aren’t threatening, there’s no danger - no real consequences - then what is there to fear? And no need for courage. Courage, after all, is not the lack of fear - rather, courage is the willingness to act, to do what needs to be done or saying what needs to be said even though you are afraid. It is acting out of courage in risky situations rather than fear.

And it’s interesting to consider why God wants to instill strength and courage in his people - why are these good things? Things that God wants to nurture in his people? Why can’t we just hunker down, stay safe, put on our weighted blankets, avoid all difficult situations? Safety is a high, high value in our culture - it spurs a lot of our parenting today (why there isn’t as much free play today). We create safe spaces on college campuses. In large measure, our response to the Covid epidemic came out of a strong desire for safety.

But God knows there is a very real battle going on - and if we shirk away from the battle, we will lose. To be a follower of Jesus Christ requires strength and courage, because we are in a very real spiritual battle. Good is real - and so is evil (powers of this dark world and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms), and we must be willing to fight if we are going to be for God, for his kingdom, his righteousness. And we suffer real wounds because of the evil in the world (and let’s not forget that at times we inflict those wounds). We’re going to have to fight if we’re going to seek truth and live by it.

Recently I watched an interview Sean McDowell did with a woman by the name of Naomi Wright, who told her story of growing up in a “Pseudo-Christian polygamous cult.” Her father, who had numerous wives living in several different states, was the leader. And he was abusive, terrible anger - never knew when he would lash out. Needless to say, she grew into adulthood with a lot of emotional scars and a lot of mixed up beliefs.

Sean McDowell’s question - how did she manage to find her way towards a genuine faith in Jesus (orthodox Christianity), when so many who grow up in abusive church situations never do. They often abandon any faith in God because everything is so mixed, what should have been a good, end up being terribly painful, so it becomes easier just to reject it all.

Her response was telling - I’m a fighter. She fought for her faith. She had had experiences of the beauty and goodness of God, she knew there was something real there - and she was willing to do the work to separate all the bad teaching she’d been raised with from the things that were true and good about Jesus. She was willing to fight through all the pain of past abuse, wounds that had gone very deep - and move toward building a genuine love relationship with Jesus, and with others. And that’s incredibly risky - because our typical response to being hurt is to close ourselves off (so we aren’t hurt again).

It’s a powerful story, a story of someone working difficult life situation in order to embrace real life and healing through Jesus Christ. It’s a story of demonstrating strength and courage in the midst of a very real battle - battle for her soul.

So often the battle is going on in our hearts - sometimes because of things that have happened to us - sometimes because of our own sin. We all have deeply ingrained tendencies toward sin, fleshly impulses that have shaped us, by sheer force of habit of being immersed in a culture that lives as if God doesn’t exist. It takes strength and courage to fight those battles.

Think about someone who’s dealing with addiction - and all the work and effort it takes if they are going to engage in the twelve steps. That takes a tremendous amount of strength and courage: willingness to surrender to a higher power - to Jesus! Take a fearless moral inventory. Make amends - admit your wrongs, apologize for the harm your actions caused others. Fight urges every single day. Change your daily routines. All those battle tactics can be employed in all sorts of “addictions” - sinful habits.

When we get serious about addressing those tendencies, it takes work, an effort. Changing habits does not come easily - spurring toward lust, reaction of anger, impatience, envy, defensiveness (because of that pride). Reactions of fear, wanting to hide, avoid conflict because we’ve been hurt.

There’s all sorts of fights that - as we pursue life and faith in Jesus - are going to require strength and courage.

We’re living in a culture in which large proportion is moving more and more away from traditional Christian values, see Christian faith as not just something outdated - but evil (saw an editorial in the paper trying to connect American evangelicalism and authoritarianism, had the same reaction when I read certain Facebook posts).

It’s a battle to live by the truth of Jesus Christ, to be willing to live differently, and to do so with grace and truth. It’s not a good indication when our current administration is more concerned about recognizing Transgender Visibility Day over Easter last Sunday. You might think, who cares about social media posts like that? But when groups are actually putting together camps that teach kids about gender identity and how to dress in drag, as it happening in numerous places around the country, we are facing a great evil.

Some of that may feel really distant from, but we have to recognize there are all sorts of ways our culture can entice us away from Jesus (our consumer mindset, we love our stuff. We value the self, the autonomous self - all about me and what I want).

It’s going to require strength and courage to engage in ministry, to get out of our safe spaces and go therefore to make disciples of all nations. Ministry is messy because people are messy. It’s hard, it takes time and effort. Now I have the opportunity to go to Winfield High School, hang out during lunchtime with kids with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Reach out to new kids on behalf of Capernaum. And I’m a little nervous. Going to call for some strength and courage.

You might to be in a battle of enduring a painful situation. You’re suffering. Ongoing physical pain. Relational pain - strained relationship with family. How can you be the person who acts with love and grace, even as you’re being wronged? Suffering over a long period is a recipe for bitterness or feeling defeated. Paul writes about learning to be content in all situations, whether good or difficult - whether in need or having plenty, being well fed or hungry. That’s the context of that often quoted verse, Philippians 4:13, “I can do all these through Christ who strengthens me.”

There are no end to our battles. Which is why God wants to nurture strength and courage in us. He doesn’t want us living out of fear. Here’s the essential aspect, why Joshua, the Israelites - and we - can move into the world, can engage the battle, with strength and courage. That we don’t have to give into fear and discouragement. Because God is faithful. And God is with us. Because of God’s promises and his presence.

Which is exactly what God tells Joshua and the Israelites - as he had told them repeatedly, he’s never hedged on his promises. Verse 3, I will give you every place where you set your feet, as I promised Moses. God goes on to describe the extent of the territory, from south to north, from east to west. From Judean wilderness to Lebanon, from the river Euphrates to the Mediterranean Sea.

Then this incredible promise - you will win! Verse 5 - “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life.” And the second half of that verse explains how they know God will keep his promise - “Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. It’s what Paul is saying in Philippians - I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

This is why you, why we, can be strong and courageous. Again, verse 9 - for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Over and over, as God commands them to be strong and courageous, he always assures them of his promises and presence. As we finish, I just want to invite you to consider what it would look like for you to engage the day-to-day battles of your life with deep confidence that God is with you. Even now, God is with you. Wherever you go, God is with you. When I go to Winfield High School, God will be with me...

Spiritual Disciplines

As God instructed Joshua - Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you do. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it.

Let God strengthen you with his word, with his promises, with his presence - know his word (shall not depart), meditate on it (understand it), so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it - live it. Put it into practice!

Spend time daily in God’s word. A chapter a day.

Practice God’s presence (Emmanuel. Matthew 28:20, Philippians 4:13).