Mondays – new adventures, new challenges, new victories!
“These are the proverbs of King Solomon of Israel, the son of David. 2 Proverbs will teach you wisdom and self-control and how to understand sayings with deep meanings.3 You will learn what is right and honest and fair. 4 From these, an ordinary person can learn to be smart, and young people can gain knowledge and good sense. 5 If you are already wise, you will become even wiser. And if you are smart, you will learn to understand 6 proverbs and sayings, as well as words of wisdom and all kinds of riddles. 7 Respect and obey the Lord! This is the beginning of knowledge. Only a fool rejects wisdom and good advice.” Proverbs 1:1-7 CEV
Very good advice for daily living – Respect and obey the Lord. This is the beginning of wisdom – trusting His word, drawing on His strength, looking at things His way brings us to victory.
Moses was being attacked by the Amalekites and so he told Joshua to get some soldiers ready for the fight. These men were not seasoned soldiers, they had been slaves making bricks for the last 400 years. They were strong but not trained soldiers. But they prepared for battle as Moses said.
Moses, Aaron and Hur were up on the hilltop watching the battle. As Moses held up his arms with the rod that the Lord gave him, the Israelites were victorious. As he grew weary his arms began to drop lower and lower. When this happened the Amalekites gained the advantage. So Aaron and Hur got Moses a large rock to sit on and they held up his arms until Joshua was completely victorious.
Now where was the logic in that? It wasn’t logic it was obedience! Obedience comes from respecting the Lord – that’s wisdom.
” Moses built an altar and named it ‘The Lord Gives Me Victory.’ 16 Then Moses explained, ‘This is because I depended on the Lord.'” Exodus 17:15-16 CEV
Joshua, the leader of that battle, was about to face a battle of his own at the city of Jericho. He encountered the Lord and this is what the Lord said.
“When Joshua was by Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing near him with his sword in his hand. Joshua went to him and said, “Are you for us or for those who hate us?” 14 “No,” He said, “I have now come as Captain of the army of the Lord.” Joshua fell on his face to the ground and worshiped, and said to Him, “What has my Lord to say to His servant?” Joshua 5:13-14 NLV
Joshua laid aside conventional wisdom and followed the Lord’s instruction. The rest, as they say, is history.
Today you may have battles but you have also been given the victory! Trust what the Lord is saying to your heart and obey. It’s the Lord who gives the victory!