When God's got your back

Today: Joshua 9-11

How do you know you have a true friend?

It's not always obvious. But I think a true friend makes you laugh. True friends listen. They give you the advice you need to hear (even when it might not be the advice you want to hear). A true friend will help you move. If they're capable, they might help you put together IKEA furniture or paint. A true friend will pray with you and for you. If you need something...from a good hair stylist to a new job...a true friend will try to connect you to a solution. A true friend will encourage you. And a true friend has your back.

Don't you love it when you know someone has your back? What if that someone was God Himself?

Today's chapters described many (sometimes gory!) battles and regions that God's people conquered...only with His help. It's interesting to read about God's role in the process. Take a look:

God threw them into total confusion before Israel,
a major victory at Gibeon.
Israel chased them along the ridge to Beth Horon
and fought them all the way down to Azekah and Makkedah.
As they ran from the People of Israel, down from the Beth Horon ridge
and all the way to Azekah,
God pitched huge stones on them out of the sky and many died.
More died from the hailstones than the People of Israel killed with the sword.
The day God gave the Amorites up to Israel,
Joshua spoke to God, with all Israel listening:
"Stop, Sun, over Gibeon;
Halt, Moon, over Aijalon Valley."
And Sun stopped,
Moon stood stock still
Until he defeated his enemies... The sun stopped in its tracks in mid sky; just sat there all day.
There's never been a day like that before or since—
God took orders from a human voice!
Truly, God fought for Israel.

This passage sounds a bit brutal, but I think the premise that "God fought for Israel" is interesting. He didn't just leave His people on their own to fight in the middle of a desert. No--He actively participated in helping them along the way. He intervened and miraculously helped them defeat their enemies.

You and I may never be called by God to fight a real war, but every day we face our own battles. Maybe you're fighting against sin or fear. Perhaps you're fighting to find a new job. You might be having a tough time finishing your education. You may just have to fight temptation or apathy to keep your marriage strong.

Whatever you're fighting, don't fight alone--you don't have to. God can and will fight with you against things that are evil and/or against His will for your life. He wants you to win. So go ahead and ask for some help!

Tomorrow: Joshua 12-15

Back to the start

(Originally written November 14)

Today: Genesis 1-3

Today was full of déjà vu moments. Yesterday, we talked about God as the ultimate Imagineer…and today’s story of Creation definitely illustrated that. I once again found myself on an airplane today showing…you guessed it… Julie & Julia (the movie that inspired this entire project).

In addition to the movie, my in-flight entertainment included a BBC-produced film about Yellowstone National Park. It was a piece tightly aligned with today’s passage in its illustration of the beauty and intricacies of Creation.

I don’t normally watch nature shows, but in light of the passage…and you may totally laugh or think this is ridiculous…I teared up on the airplane. It was just so overwhelmingly beautiful and obvious that the ultimate Imagineer was at work. I watched as a small beaver meticulously built his dam and stored food for the winter. His ability to defend his home and food from a (much larger!) moose was so simple, but so obviously God-given (he whacked the water with his tail and scared the moose away). The piece also profiled a bird at Yellowstone who took thousands of seeds from pine trees and buried them throughout the park as food for the winter. The narrator said that astoundingly, the bird would remember where he placed 700 out of 1,000 seeds (a 70% success rate). The forgotten seeds? Not forgotten by the ultimate Imagineer—they would grow into trees that would feed the animals for years to come and keep the cycle of life at Yellowstone in motion. How cool is that?

The short film about Yellowstone and the repeat of Julie & Julia moved me in many ways. It was like God was saying to me, “See—I didn’t forget about you, either. I see what you’re doing, what you’re thinking. I made you—and I love you so much more than that beaver and that bird. I’ll always take care of you.”

Please take that as a message for you, too…because it is (check it out here). Of all the incredible things in Creation, only men and women were created “in God’s image” for a relationship with Him. Don’t believe me? Check out today’s passage and go back to where we started from.

Tomorrow: Genesis 4-7