God Is Working
Have you ever noticed that some people can look at a picture and see terrible things and others can look and see wonder, beauty and maybe even comfort? Sometimes this is just a matter of opinion or a matter of whether or not the person is a pessimist or optimist. Some times: however, it is a matter of seeing things from God’s perspective versus man’s. One such example is found in Joshua 9:1-2.
”Now it came about when all the kings who were beyond the Jordan, in the hill country and in the lowland and on all the coast of the Great Sea toward Lebanon, the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, heard of it, that they gathered themselves together with one accord to fight with Joshua and all Israel.” (NASB)
Consider the following points of view. To man’s point of view, HELP! Here are kings gathering their armies to fight against Joshua. This would mean there is a much larger army than Joshua had. It would also mean that the armies were united under one purpose: kill Joshua and run the Israelites out of the land. It would mean that the nations that knew the layout of the land and the strategic defensive and offensive advantages of the land were coming to fight newcomers to the area. It meant that a people made desperate by the potential of losing their homes and land were coming to do battle with people that had just arrived and had none. On and on it goes and the picture can get darker and darker.
Consider this same situation from God’s point of view. God was on the side of the Israelites, so that made their army greater than any the kings of the land could throw together. God had promised them the land and God always keeps His promises, so they really did not need to worry in the first place. God was saving them work and travel by bringing all of these kings to them for defeat instead of having to go and fight each one separately. When you put the two views together, you see that God was actually making their job
When you put the two views together, you see that God was actually making their job easier, but they did not see it this way and decided to take matters into their own hands and trust in their own point of view. Sometimes you and I do the same thing. In our day of health and welfare preachers, we are often left with a sense of dismay when difficulties arise or when trouble comes our way. James told his readers to consider it all joy when we face difficulties because these trials would mature our faith and would prepare us to hang on when even worse things come along. He also told them to pray to God for guidance when they felt they could not understand or hang on. Maybe we should pray more for God to show us what He is teaching us in difficulty than we do for Him to remove the trial. Just a thought. For more information, see James 1.