Make War
(This post was written by Michael Wallace, High School Pastor)
Joshua 6:2-5 “Then the LORD said to Joshua, ‘See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.’”
War is all around us. Every day we approach a battle on several fronts. It could be in our family, job, relationships, government, etc. When I face struggles or obstacles in my life, I rarely think to begin with worship. My natural reaction is to muster all the fortitude and strength I can to face what lies ahead of me. Whether it’s a financial battle, a discipline conversation with my children or a disagreement with my wife, I instinctively reach for my weapons first. But that’s not what Joshua did.
Instead of increasing the anti-wall weapons budget or spending extra time in training for battle, Joshua obeyed God’s command to lead with worship. He put the priests with trumpets in the front of the army…not to distract Jericho from a sneak attack…but put on display who was truly leading them. Worship is simply acknowledging who God is, what He has done, and that He has a created us for a reason. I rarely feel like worshipping in the midst of a battle, but those are the times when I need Him the most.
Joshua’s army led with worship. Do you? Or is “worship” simply a style of music? Do we achieve worship by matching the right guitar chords together, or by recognizing our Creator in every moment of every day?
Starting tonight, fpStudents will begin a series about God’s unique battle plan for our lives called “Make War.” The first step of this process is to discover that we are all wired for worship. We are called to lead with it, and let it permeate everything else about our lives.
