The Battle Belongs to the Lord

 Read: Joshua 1-6

 ^“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.”      Joshua 1:6-9 NIV

Joshua did what God asked him to do. God wanted the Israelites to purge the land of the evil that lived there. They were to completely eradicate the peoples that lived in the land so that none of their traditions, customs, or beliefs would infiltrate His holy people. He led them into the Promised Land according to God’s divine direction. His entire life consisted of battle after battle. Each time he trusted that the battle belonged to the Lord. As long as he continued trusting God, following His lead, and trying to clean the Promised Land out, God was going to fight his battles for him.

You know, I started thinking. God tells us to do the same thing: purge the evil from our land. Get rid of everything that’s not of God in our lives. If we do this, then He will give us the victory, but part of the victory is the battle. We are not promised a life of ease and relaxation when we choose Christ. Joshua fought most of his adult life, battle after battle, yet the battle always belonged to the Lord!

Death may be involved and some heavy-duty trust will be required. The enemy may seem so big at times that we cower in his shadow, but just like Joshua; the battle belongs to the Lord! We will never appreciate the freedom that Jesus wants to give us until we learn to fight for it! We will never truly live in the Promised Land of God’s love until we begin to cleanse our hearts of the deep roots of sin that have ruled us for so long.

            Prayer: God help me not to lose heart. Help me not to miss your battles and not to grow weary of the fight. Life will be a constant battle at times, but help me to seek your face all the time and to remember that as long as you are my focus, the battle will belong to you! Help me not to get so overwrought with the vastness of the enemy’s army that I forget that you have called me to fight. Help me rid this land of the enemy and fill it with you! I don’t know how to do this alone. Please bring people to walk alongside me to show me the way, to have my back when the war gets too tough. And please teach me new and better techniques to win every battle that comes my way. I will only be victorious because of your strength in me!