The Right Side

Happy Monday! This IS the day the Lord has made. We WILL rejoice and be glad in it. Friday’s tornado ripped through our city and created mass destruction in seconds. I do not take it for granted that my family made it through the storm safely. I do not take it lightly that so many families lost all their worldly possessions. These thoughts were running through my head as I made my way to church on Sunday and are still running through my head today. Faith without works is dead, and it is my responsibility to help those in need as much as I can. With action. Not only thoughts and prayers. On that note, let me take action and dive into the sermon recap.

Sunday’s sermon comes from Joshua 5:13-15. Joshua is gearing up for battle. A physical battle AND an invisible war. I have so much in common with Joshua. And you probably do as well. Have you ever seen the memes about being kind to others because you don’t know what battles they are facing? We are all encountering wars of some kind. In the face of these battles, our survival instincts kick in. Our minds and our bodies do what needs to be done to keep us safe. They fight to keep us out of harm’s way.

And I am so grateful that we have a natural fight within us. It helps to sustain us. The thing about our fight instinct is that sometimes it causes us to fight in the wrong way. In our insistence to remain safe, we take sides. You are either for us or against us. You are on our side or on the side of the enemy. No take backs. It’s cut and dry. It’s black and white. But it is all wrong.

While preparing for battle, Joshua sees a Man standing opposite him. And not just any man. This Man has come to fight. And Joshua knows this because the Man has His sword in His hand and ready to take action. Joshua asks the man if He is here to fight for Joshua’s side or the adversary’s side. The Man gets right to the point. He tells Joshua that He is not for either side. Actually, He is the Commander of the army of the Lord. Joshua falls to his face and worships. He knows he is the presence of the Lord. And his quest to secure further fighters for his side ceases.

Do you know how much time I have wasted fighting to get the Lord to be on my side? A LOT! Too often it is my way or the highway. I pray and ask the Lord to do it for me. And I tell Him exactly how I would like it to be done. All He has to do is just follow my outlined itinerary. He just has to be on my side. But the reality is that I do not need to ask the Lord to be on my side. I need to be like Joshua and fall on my face and worship. I need to join the Lord’s side. The right side.

Open up your mind. Choose ye this day whom you will serve. It requires a daily mindset and focus. We were built and born to fight and survive. We were built to win. But we only experience that victory when we are on the right side. #wepreach