Sun, stand still
‘On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua spoke to the Lord in the presence of Israel:
“Sun, stand still over Gibeon, and moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.”
And the sun stood still and the moon stopped until the nation took vengeance on its enemies.’ Joshua 10:12–13 CSB
Crazy right? The faith Joshua needed to speak these words to God, and then for God to listen to (obey?) him, to agree with him, and break the laws of the universe.
Or, was Joshua agreeing with God? Was Joshua simply believing in what God called him to do, and he called on God to hold his side of the arrangement. A few verses earlier, God told Joshua he’d win this battle:
‘The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, for I have handed them over to you. Not one of them will be able to stand against you.” ‘ Joshua 10:8 CSB
Joshua knew and believed God called him to do this. God called Joshua to this battle, and to win! Joshua marched on in faith, in action, and won the day! He continued to seek God and his provisions in such a bold manner, in a real tangible way.
“Stop the sun so I can continue what you want me to do.”
What do we do nowadays? If this was 2018, in America, would have Joshua have had the same fortitude to expect great things from God?
“Welp, God you wanted me to do this, but it just got hard! You see, it’s dusk, it’s getting hard to see the enemy among the shadows, my men are tired, I’m tired, it’s been a long night (remember I ran all night and surprised them this morning, feels like soooo long ago)… I guess you really didn’t mean for me to do all of this now… We can finish this up tomorrow right?”
What do I do?
I hear from God, I know what he wants me to do, as clearly as the nose is on my face. God’s Word is full of commands for us to live by daily! There’s no surprise here. We’re not called to battle people like Joshua; instead we are called to love like Christ does: LOVE others, show God’s love, to serve others, to live humble lives, to give God the glory, to prefer others over myself, and so on. How quickly I give up because things get tough, because the sun is setting.
My prayer is to push through the hard parts, and not concede because it’s “obviously bad timing”, or too hard to move. To talk with God, and ask him to stop the sun: to grant me courage, to give of myself, to lower myself below others, to not fear the opinions of others, to love on others even when I’m exhausted and done. We can’t do this on our own strength, it truly requires his Spirit in us to serve him. And then march forward in faith God will do this because this is what he wants me (and you) to do!
