-Strength for Today- "The day that Time Stood Still." - Joshaua 10:1-15.

There?have?been times in our lives when we?“wish we had the ability to stop the clock,”?and restart it,??“when?the task was?done.” We know that’s impossible, because no matter what the outcome might be, time,?“is like a well-orchestrated band,”?in spite of the circumstances,?“ it marches on.”?However, when reading,?Joshua 10:1-15, we’re shown an instance when time stood still. In life when?“things are about ready to get ugly;”?from the mind and mouth of a Christian’s,?“the first utterance towards?“uncertainty,” should be?that of?“fervent” and “faithful prayer.”?God listens when we pray.?

??In this passage, Joshua is facing not?“one,”?but “five”?Amorite kings who at the time were Israel’s enemy. But instead of being?“emotionally,”?and?“mentally distraught;”?Joshua’s?prayer, to God,?“in the presence of all Israel,”?in the heat of the battle he faced,?“to some may've seemed??unbelievable.”?I've often said that?“prayer is the most potent arsenal known to mankind.”?So, when we’re put in a place to?“uphold righteousness,”?we must never enter that place?“without being “covered in prayer.”?Because it doesn’t matter how “uncertain”?circumstances might be. When we pray with “certainty,” as it was with Joshua, “it was God’s will to put the Amorites in their place.”?But I order to accomplish the task, Joshus?needed some extra help.?

Listen, the?same God who?“flooded the earth,” “parted the Red Sea,” “held back the Jordan River,”?and?“sent a big fish to swallow Jonah,” made?the “sun” and?“moon,” and?held them still for Joshua,?“is the God we serve today.”?So, what?Bible says happened in?Joshua 10,?actually believe happened. And that’s?an encouragement to us,?“that the God of universe stopped everything to take care of Joshua’s needs.”??That’s the kind of God we serve. We serve a God?“who hears and answers prayer.”?

Look again at verse 8,?“And the Lord said to Joshua,?"Do not fear them, for I have delivered them into your hand; not a man of them shall stand before you."?Joshua’s prayer was in harmony with God’s will, and he knew “what God had promised from the beginning.”?The God of the universe?“listened”?and?“responded”?to?“the prayer of a mere mortal man.”?Joshua’s plea for time was granted.?

Notice the reassurance given in verse. 14, “And there has been no day like that, before it or after it, that the Lord heeded the voice of a man; for the Lord fought for Israel. In other words, “the things that God promised, came to pass.”?God did the very things He said He would do. Even though “it meant suspending the laws of nature,”?and?“caused time to stand still:” “that’s something God is capable of doing”?“when we line ourselves up with His will.”?

Now I want to leave you with one more thought.?That’s?a miracle that is not likely to be repeated. God?doesn’t?always call a time out. But there’s a?“need in the church” and?“in our homes”?to?“make the most of the time we have.”?Jesus said in the?John 9:4:?I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.?

That verse?reminds us that time is short, and that we to take advantages of it now. We all know people who aren’t t saved. For some it might take a miracle. But I?“believe in the miracle of prayer.”?Because?“a prayer offered in faith”?according to God’s will “is heard.”?

I believe God is going to deliver an answer.?Right now,?“the sun is nearing an?overhead position,” which means later this evening,?“it will set,”?and?“night will come.”?So, pray like Joshua did. He prayed “fervently” and “faithfully,”?and as a result,?“he saw miraculous things come to pass.”?God?“can do the same thing for us!”?

AUthor: Plez Lovelady, Jr., PhD

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