“And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?
“And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant?”
Joshua 5:13-14
We tend to come to the Lord from the wrong perspective. When Joshua saw this man, he asked, “Are you on our side or the side of our enemies?” He asked it as a challenge to this stranger Who appeared from nowhere. Like us, he did not recognize the Lord for Who He was.
As always, the Lord’s answer put everything in the right light: “Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come.” To put it another way: “No, Joshua. I am not here for your enemies. I am the Captain of the Lord’s host. You work for me.”
When we come to the Lord with our requests it feels as though God completely misunderstands us because the answer we get seems to ignore the question. But that is never the case. God’s answer is always right because He always sees the real issue and His answers are always there to help us to see things the way He sees them and for us to see Him more clearly.
Joshua wasn’t rebuked for his question. It was a legitimate one to ask. The Lord’s answer simply helped him to get things in the right perspective. Once he had that, Joshua had the right response: “And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant?”
How many times have we come to God in prayer and He has changed our heart? That’s the work of His Holy Spirit making intercession for us (Romans 8:26) and helping us to get things in right perspective so we know what it is we should be asking and Who it is we are speaking to.
Grace in Waves 