Whose Side Are You On?

 By: Lauren Thomas 

Scripture clearly teaches us that Jesus is our victorious rescuer and redeemer, that God fights our battles, that He is for us in Christ (Romans 8:31). But sometimes, I wonder if we have something backwards about this.

Before the epic fall of Jericho in Joshua 6, a new leader had taken Moses’ place in leading the people of Israel into the Promised Land: Joshua. God had only performed one miracle through this new leader, compared to the many that God had worked through Moses. And now that the people of Israel stood on this side of the Jordan, Joshua must have felt lots of pressure and anxiety. He had to lead an untrained army against fortified cities and deliver God’s promised land to God’s people.

 

One day, likely feeling all this pressure and stress, he was surveying the city of Jericho from afar, when he looked and noticed a man with a drawn sword.

 

Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” ¹⁴ And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.”

Joshua 5:13b-14a ESV

 

An interesting answer. Interesting, in that it turned the question around on Joshua: whose side are you on?

 

Joshua’s response was to fall on his face in worship.

 

Then he asked,” “What does my lord say to his servant?” The commander of the Lord’s armies told Joshua to take off his sandals, a signal and symbol of recognition: that this place of confrontation was holy, because God was there.  

 

I’ve listened to people ask, “why is God doing this to me? Why is God testing me? What is God trying to teach me?” They ask these questions because their life doesn’t look the way they want it to. They feel that God is being mean to them. They shake their fist at God and ask Him, “whose side are you on anyway?”

 

But what if the real question is “whose side are we on?”? God isn’t interested in being a means to our end. He’s not interested in giving us constant personal victories. What he cares about is that we, 1) like Joshua decide whose side we are on, 2) that we give Him His due worship, 3) that we recognize His place of holiness in our lives.

 

I like to think that Joshua’s encounter in Joshua 5 was a watershed moment. For, later in his life, Joshua said, “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15). He learned a valuable lesson in that holy confrontation, when his question was turned back on himself.

 

It is a holy confrontation which shows us God is sovereign and which changes our perspective. When we choose to be on God’s side, what we previously thought were our battles might not seem so important anymore. Instead, we choose to keep our eyes on the Lord and fight the battles He commissions us to fight. And He will give us victory.

 

Reflection:

What battles are you facing? Why do you want to win these battles? Are your eyes on the battle or on the Lord? If you’ve been asking God whose side He is on, maybe it’s time to tell God whose side YOU are on.

 

 

Not On The Cross

 By: Grace Metzger

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery
trial when it comes upon you to test you, 
as though something strange were happening
to you. But rejoice insofar as you share

 Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice
and be glad when His glory is revealed.

‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭4‬:‭12‬-‭13‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The other day as I was doing my doom scrolling on TikTok, yes I’m aware of how bad of a habit that is, when I came across a TikTok. Normally with my ruined intention span I can only watch them for a few seconds before I turn off, but something about this one captivated my attention. It made me want to watch the whole thing. She was going on about different things she’s heard other pastors share. One thing she shared is people are always complaining about how life isn’t fair, but if life was fair that you’d be hanging on the cross. I won’t lie I like that video and then I turned off the app and stared at the wall for 10 minutes. I too have been known to complain about how life is unfair, been so focused on the woe is me. I’ve never once considered how unfair it was that I’m not hanging on the cross.

After staring at the wall for what felt like an eternity, I opened up my Bible and started reading about Jesus right before His death. I don’t believe that Jesus was looking forward to the cross. I believe that He was happy that we were going to be saved. But the actual physical part, I think no one could look forward to. The description in the Bible talks about Him being stripped, beaten, etc. It’s so awful that His own mother didn’t even recognize Him at the end of it. Yet Jesus did that for us.

I think about how often I complain, I’ve mentioned before I consider the act of complaining a hobby. I think about every time I get upset and pray to God why me? Why do I have to go through this? Yet have I ever considered it a blessing that this is all I’m going through. The worst thing in my life is a small amount of physical pain or losing a loved one even though I’ll see them in heaven soon. What hurt Jesus was becoming human, being betrayed, being mocked, being beaten, and so much more. How blessed am I that life isn’t fair? How lucky am I that God has mercy on my soul.

For all have sinned and fall
short of the glory of God.

‭‭Romans‬ ‭3‬:‭23‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The Bible warns us that the wages of sin is death. We are all sinners, even you and me, yet because life isn’t fair we don’t have to die. Instead we get this beautiful eternal life with God. How often do we acknowledge the blessing of God’s grace and kindness towards us? How have we been incorporating that thankfulness towards Him into our lives? I challenge you this week that every time you feel like complaining or whining instead you take a breath and thank God that He has mercy on you, thank Him that you’re not on the cross. 

Discussion question: How have you been incorporating thankfulness into your walk with God lately?

Greet Him Warmly

By: Jenifer Metzger

Do everything in love.
1 Corinthians 16:14 CSB

On a regular basis, I am home when my husband comes home from work. But one day, he got off work early and I was still out. When I saw his truck in the driveway, I had these visions of him greeting me at the door with a passionate kiss and telling me how happy he was that I made it home safely and how he missed me. Well, it went something more like this: from his easy chair with his warm blanket wrapped tight around him and his eyes glued to the tv screen, he says, "Hey."

Talk about dashing a girls dreams! I walked, more like stomped, to the kitchen hurt, offend, and angry.  God gently spoke to me. How can I expect that of my husband, when I don't do that? I normally say "Hey" from the kitchen sink as I cook, or from the computer as I type, or when the kids were younger I may have yelled from the bedroom, "Come deal with your son!"  I wasn't going to the door and greeting my husband, yet I expected that of him.

When we first married, I did greet him at the door with a glass of iced tea and afternoon snack., but somewhere along the way I lost that. Our husbands want to know we love and cherish them. They want to know we thought of them throughout the day. They want to know we are glad they are home. I understand we have crazy days. Believe me, I understand! The kids are fighting, the laundry pile is bottomless, or maybe you work outside the home and have the same stresses your husband does. It's easy to not make his homecoming special because we are busy, tired, or stressed with what we've been dealing with throughout the day. But we need to put all of that aside for a moment and greet our husband in a way that shows we love and appreciate him.

I want to challenge you. This week, put aside all of the stresses of the day. Forget the argument of the night before. When your husband walks through the door greet him with a hug, smile and kind word. If your husband is home first, when you come in, go to him and give him a hug and smile. I promise you this will set a beautiful tone for the evening!

Discussion:
1. Are you intentional about pausing what you are doing to greet your husband when he comes home?
2. How can you train yourself to make this a new habit?

Eyes on the Trees

 By: Joanne Viola

 

Our backyard is lined with woods. It is amazing to watch the change these woods go through each season.

Right now, they have fully thickened as spring unfolded all which grows. They are dense and green, and hardly a neighbor’s house can be seen.

Sitting one morning, I recalled a verse read the previous day:

“Better what the eye sees than the roving of the appetite.”
(Ecclesiastes 6:9, NIV)

The verse has stuck with me for a few days. We can so clamor for more – more position, more prestige, more money, more house, more car.

Our souls are truly never satisfied, and the reason is right in that verse – our eyes are on the wrong things.

Turning to read the same verse in other translations brings further insight:

• “What the eyes see is better than what the soul desires.” (NASB) 
• “Better is the sight of the eyes [the enjoyment of what is available to one] than the cravings of wandering desire.” (AMPC)
• “Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite.” (ESV)

What do these translations teach and warn us to do?

We need to be aware of what our souls desire. Our souls will guide us astray, causing us to be selfish, desiring unhealthy acquisitions.

Our appetites will wander. We will crave that which will not benefit our lives both spiritually and physically.

Commercials, billboards, store ads, and even social media are aiming to create an insatiable appetite for more. They are designed to get you to want what you do not already have and spend more money.

So what are we to do with our “roving appetites” and “soul desires”?

“Verse 9 asserts that it is better to be satisfied with what one has (be it money or knowledge) than to be continually driven to obtain more.”

 (from The New American Commentary, Vol. 14, page 316)

Maybe that is the reason our house backs up to woods. They block the view of abutting properties. There is no telling if “the grass is greener on the other side.” I only see our herd of rabbits which fills me with delight and brings deep, settled contentment.

Instead of being driven to obtain more,
may we keep our eyes focused upward
and let what we already have be enough.

 

Reflection:
Do you find your soul desires can lead you to be dissatisfied at times? What are ways you can safeguard against this occurring?

 

Photo taken by Joanne Viola

 

 

 

 

 

Chaos and Creation: Inviting the Spirit of God

 By: Lauren Thomas 

In the beginning… The Spirit of God hovered over the waters. The ancient hearers, or readers, would have understood “the waters” to symbolize chaos. Yet, the Holy Spirit was present over the chaos. In the midst of the chaos, there was the Spirit, hovering.

 

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. ² The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

Genesis 1:1-2 ESV

And then, God spoke. A word in the Bible used for Spirit means “breath.” God spoke. His breath, or Spirit, entered the chaos and transformed it. Where there was chaos, the Spirit created beauty. Where there was confusion, the Spirit created order.

 

The places of our lives that feel chaotic we sometimes try to keep God out of. Or, in general we just try to hide these parts from everyone. Maybe we lack hope that God can touch that kind of darkness and disorder. So, we close it up. We try to contain the chaos.

 

But this picture we see in Genesis, something that literally occurred, is also a metaphor for us today. The chaos in our lives is not untouchable. When we invite the Holy Spirit in to those areas of darkness and chaos, He can breathe order, beauty, and re-creation. We might think we can neatly contain our chaos within our finite boundaries, but we can’t. And why contain the chaos when the Spirit of God could create from the chaos? Here, Genesis 1, we read not only an account of creation, but we see a hint of redemption: God takes the broken thing and makes it beautiful.

 

to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
    to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
    the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
    the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.

Isaiah 61:3 ESV

 

Reflection:

What areas of chaos in your life are you keeping in the dark, hiding from others, hiding from God? Today, how could you invite the Spirit of God to hover over your chaos and breathe His creating Spirit into you afresh?