In Step With God by Charles F. Stanley

Author:Charles F. Stanley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2010-03-29T00:00:00+00:00

God’s Words Are Instructional

In Joshua 6 we read, “Now Jericho was tightly shut because of the sons of Israel; no one went out and no one came in. The Lord said to Joshua, ‘See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the valiant warriors’” (vv. 1–2). Before Joshua and the people even approached Jericho’s walls, God made it clear that He had given them the city. His surprise visits often are points of encouragement—letting us know that He is the One who has brought us to this point and the One who will lead us to victory. We need to know that when we have made the right choice, taken the right step, said no to sin, or chosen to follow a path that our friends would not have taken, God is pleased and honored by our actions. His encouragement keeps us moving forward when we are tempted to look at the rising waves or shrink back in fear when winds of adversity begin to blow.

The enemy will tempt us to think about what we have done. Satan watches to see how we respond to a challenge or an idea. If we set our sights on reaching the goal, he will do his level best to discourage us and tempt us into giving up. Surely Joshua had to deal with the enormity of the task he had been given to do, but it was not as hard as he first envisioned, knowing that God already had settled the entire matter. Jericho was conquered. The walls fell, and Israel had obeyed the Lord.

This is one of the reasons why we should never set limits on God’s ability. After all, is anything too difficult for Him (Jer. 32:27)? He can take what we feel is insignificant and of very little value and work through it in a mighty way. Gideon’s encounter with the Lord is another example of how He surprises us and changes the atmosphere of our hopelessness into one of vital potential and victory. God appeared to Gideon as an angel: “The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, ‘The Lord is with you, O valiant warrior’” (Judg. 6:12). Immediately the Lord addressed him from a positive perspective. He understood that Gideon and the nation of Israel were in dire circumstances. He also knew that the hearts of the people were filled with dread. Their enemies were oppressing them. Therefore, Gideon answered God with words that reflected a heavy heart: “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian” (v. 13). From Gideon’s position, the future looked very bleak and was getting more dismal with each day.

The Midianites had a habit of coming into the land where

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