Then spake Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day. And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the LORD hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the LORD fought for Israel. (Joshua 10:12-14)
The past 10 days has been unique and has caused me to really think about how I look at life and my relation to others. On Friday, September 14, Chelsea Smith had an aneurysm and has been in the hospital ever since. This began a growing prayer support group (links at the bottom of this post). Some prayers grew feet to bring support, comfort, and encouragement.
I have been teaching through the book of Joshua in my Sunday School class. This passage in Joshua 10 has many great lessons – not just history lessons, but lessons we can apply to our lives today. Since I taught this a couple weeks ago, the passage came back to mind.
1. That day was a day of battle
There were five armies that came against the children of Israel. Yes, the children of Israel had gone through several battles, but never five armies at once.
2. That day was a day of testing
It was a situation that looked like it would be impossible for them to come out of alive, much less victorious. It was a test of their faith in God.
3. That day was a day of faith
Joshua demonstrated a great deal of faith when he asked for the sun and moon to stand still. He did not understand the science behind the request – he only understood that God could take care of it.
4. That day was a day of miracles
Scientifically, we understand that it was not the sun that stood still, but that the earth stopped rotating. Science would dictate that this would be impossible and for life to continue. BUT remember that God can (and did) take care of it. God created and sustains all things. We are always in His hands.
5. That day was a day to remember
The Bible says: “And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the LORD hearkened unto the voice of a man…” We need to remember the things that God has done. The little things and the big things. The things for us and the things for others. Remembering these things can become a staircase for our faith.
And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. (Luke 17:5)
We need to increase our faith, but increasing our faith means stepping to a place we’ve never been before. And trusting God when we do. God wants to grow our faith. God also wants us to help others grow in their faith as well.
Question: Has there been anything in your life that God used to grow your faith?
Love how you tie this scripture to the situation with Chelsea. Great post. I am daily seeing God at work through my nonprofit, the situation with Chelsea, and the blog tribe. Amazing stuff!
Glad to hear that you are seeing God work in your life! And daily! Too many times, we can get busy and not notice the things that God is doing in our lives. He wants to work for us, in us, and through us – but we need to recognize it!
This is a great reminder for me Joshua. My favorite points:
– Joshua didn’t understand the science of stopping the sun for a bit. He just KNEW God could do it. Boy do I need to shape my faith to be like that. I just believe God can do stuff that science says isn’t possible.
– A day of battle. At the place where I am right now, going through the stuff we’re going through – I totally feel like I can identify with this point on some level. You finish throwing one enemy down, only to see another bunch of them coming to take the other’s place.
His strength is made perfect when I am weak.
Where I’m seeing faith growing? As my family and I struggle to build our business after our worst year to date – we’re behind in several important payments, aren’t making enough to meet them (yet….)
My biggest temptation was to run back to Canada. We had the opportunity back in July. (Job op.) But we prayed and asked before we tried to step out…and God spoke to us so clearly that we were to stay, that we had no doubt in our mind about it.
His biggest challenge came to us from a Psalm – in a nutshell, God was asking: ‘Do you believe I can provide for you in the middle of your wilderness???’
Truth: no. I was scared and wanted to run, but that question hit me so hard.
Who was going to fix my problem? Me? Canada? Or God?
So, my faith is growing in this. I am seeing God opening doors in totally unexpected places to provide for us. We aren’t out of the woods yet..but I DO believe God can provide for me in the wilderness. I’m seeing it!
Thanks for the reminder man.
Thanks for sharing, Aaron. You are very good at creating posts within the commenting system! Don’t stop! I love your openness and willingness to share these things publicly.
God has used many things in my life to grow my faith. I’ll probably develop these into posts later. I didn’t grow up in a Christian home. I started going to church when I was thirteen, but didn’t get saved until I was almost 17. I went through several situations during my teenage years (before and after salvation) that helped me to learn that I can really trust God. Of course, there have been many steps of faith since those times.
‘Steps of faith’ – yeppers. They will never stop, will they? It’s part of the deal. I’m looking forward to reading more about yours my friend! I enjoy reading your blog. 🙂