Whose Side Is HE On?

One of my best friends, (you know who you are), called me last week with a question about something he'd read in Joshua 5. He'd come upon the story of Joshua overlooking Jericho before the Israelites began their marching war campaign.

Joshua notices a Man standing nearby who is holding a sword in His hand. He approaches the Man and asks, "Are You on my side? or my enemy's?" The Man replies that He's the Captain of the Hosts and He's not on either side... oh, and by the way, Joshua, you're standing on holy ground - remove your sandals!

Like any smart man would, Joshua obeyed and began worshipping the Captain of the Hosts.

My Bible's commentary states that this Man was Jesus. Their reasoning is two-fold - He calls Himself the Captain of the Hosts and He allows Joshua to worship Him. There is no instance in the Bible of an angel receiving the worship of a man - the angel always tells the man to stop worshipping and proceeds with his intended business.

I have to say that I agree with the commentary. This must be Jesus.

The most interesting thing, though, and my friend's question brought this to light, is this one question. "Why wouldn't the Captain of the Hosts be on Israel's side?" Israel is God's chosen nation and was taking Canaan as God ordained.

As I started thinking about this and asking Holy Spirit for help it became so clear to me that I often approach God with my desires for Him to be "on my side" rather than humbly approaching Him to find out what His side is and to get in line with Him. If Jesus always looked to the Father to see what He was to do here on earth, then I don't know what makes me think it's the other way around for me.

I've often wondered how God chooses sides when I have a disagreement with my "brother" - is it right to ask Him to be on my side? How could He choose between two of His children? Even if I'm "right" and the other is "wrong" I can't possibly begin to fathom God's plans - not His Kingdom plans.

Jesus learned obedience through His suffering. Will it be any different for me? Maybe it's in God's plan for me to suffer an injustice, and, if that's the case, doesn't it make more sense for me to go ahead and align with God's plan instead of fighting against Him? Do I really trust Him - that His plan for me is to give me hope and a future and an expected end?

Daddy, please forgive me for being so selfish. Help me to grow up and work for Your Kingdom plans.

Amey