God is our Commander-In-Chief

In Joshua 5:13–14, the Chosen People were near Jericho and about to take it. Joshua saw a man standing in front of him with a sword drawn in his hand.

He asked, "Are you for us or for our enemies?"

The man replied, "Neither, but as a commander of the army of the Lord."

This event happened many, many years ago and still happens today. When we pray, we tend to ask the Lord to do something for us. We ask the Lord to be on our side when we engage in life battles; we simply ask Him to be an ally.

We have forgotten that he is the Commander-in-Chief. We ask Him to fight for us and be with us in battles where directives are OURS. We have forgotten that our mandate is to put all our efforts into discerning His mandates and follow them.

Never forget that this God is always prepared to raise a new generation who will fulfill His plans and who will follow His commands. Forty years were spent by the Israelites wandering in the wilderness because of their disobedience. Those who were once slaves in Egypt spent their lives on this seemingly endless journey to have a glimpse of the promised land but never to take possession of it.

Our challenge is to identify what the Lord calls us to do and to follow it by heart. Because every time we raise the question, "Lord, will you be with me here or there?" His response would be, "Neither!" The creation's Commander-in-Chief follows no orders! His response would instead be: "Take off your sandals, for the place you are standing is holy." Then we would be in the right place. Only the Lord should tell us where to go and what to do. We often mistakenly choose the path of the wilderness. But our confidence must be in our commander’s desire, which is far better than the supply of manna during the daytime and the pillars of fire during the night—it is a land of our own flowing with milk and honey.