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You can expect that your courage will be tested. You'll face a wall you don't think you can win, an obstacle you don't think you can get beyond.
You've probably thought about that battle today. It may have robbed you of sleep last night or preoccupied your thoughts in random moments. Your opponent may be someone in your family or someone at work. It may be a former marriage partner. It may be a situation, such as an addiction. Whatever the challenge, the battle you face right now looks impossible to overcome.
You may be right. You may not ever be able to win this battle because you're fighting the wrong way, using the wrong strategy. You and I were raised to match strength for strength. If the opponent is strong, we must be stronger. If he is smart, we must be smarter. The only way to win is through intimidation. You must crush or control your opponent and the situation.
All of this is true, of course, unless you're going to fight God's way. God's strategy is altogether different. God specializes in impossible situations. (See Matthew 19:26 and Luke 1:37.) When you are overwhelmed, outnumbered, out-manned, out-muscled and outsmarted, God steps in since He specializes in leading you to victory. Only He does it His way.
The courageous Joshua faced a battle that he knew he couldn't' win. God's charge to him was to go and conquer the land. "I will be with you: I will not fail you or forsake you."; God said. "Be strong and courageous."; (Joshua 1:5-6). I wonder if (in a weak moment all alone) Joshua thought, "Conquer the mighty city of Jericho? No way. Can't be done. Not by power, not by intimidation. Not by cunning strategy. This is a wall we cannot bring down"; You can read about his impossible situation in Joshua 6.
All our lives, we've been singing, "Joshua fought the battle of Jericho,and the walls came tumblin' down."; The problem is, the song is wrong. Joshua didn't fight the battle. He marched and shouted just as God told him to, and the walls fell down. There was no fight! He listened for the trumpet blast like the other people in the army and stood back and watched as the entire city was exposed as a result of God's miraculous intervention. The odds were against them, and they couldn't possibly do battle against their fierce enemy. Their only hope of victory was obeying God and the walls around the city fell flat. Joshua expected the battle to be his war, but then he came face-to-face with his Commander in Chief and learned that the battle belonged to the Lord. Joshua's part was not to win the war but simply to make himself available to the true Commander in Chief.
We can learn a great deal from Joshua's winning strategy to help us in our own seemingly impossible battles:
Strategy One: Get a clear understanding of God's plan. Before you can march to God's orders, you must understand His plan for you. The first concerns your enemy. Most want to get back at their enemy, but God says to forgive him.
Strategy Two: Cooperate completely with God's strategy. When God's Word directs you to do something, don't argue....just do it. You may need to ask Him for the strength and the willingness to follow, but determine to follow Him anyway.
Strategy Three: Follow God's plan....by faith. Hebrews 11 explains why God's strategy worked for Joshua. "By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they had been encircled for seven days." Joshua's people followed God with childlike faith. They simply believed that this is what they should do. As a result God honored their faith.
What is your Jericho? What is the battle in front of you? What is your challenge? Your opponent? Your struggle? Face it now. Remember.....you cannot fight it in your own flesh....it's got to be the Lord's battle. He takes pleasure in turning an impossible situation into a remarkable victory. But it means you need the courage to surrender to His strategy and do it His way...by faith and in His strength. When you do that you will be amazed how inevitable impossibilities turn into incredible opportunities.
