All Day Fight

All Day Fight
By Shirley Mitchell
"On the day the LORD gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the LORD in the presence of Israel:
'O sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.'
So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped,
till the nation avenged itself on its enemies,
as it is written in the Book of Jashar.

The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the LORD listened to a man. Surely the LORD was fighting for Israel!"

Joshua 10:12-14

Joshua led his men in an all night march through the steepest elevation. Five Amorite kings had joined together to fight against Israel's covenant partner Gibeon. Joshua and his army responded to the Gibeonites' plea to not abandon them. His army took them by surprise, and the Lord threw them into confusion.

In the battle, he saw the stones fall on his enemy because the LORD hurled large hailstones down on them from the sky, and more of them died from the hailstones than were killed by the swords of the Israelites (verse 11). Yet, the battle remained intense. He swung his sword until his arms were worn out, and his sword felt glued to his hand.

Joshua was an experienced warrior. He had crossed the parted waters of the Jordan River, fought the battle of Jericho, saw the walls come down, confronted the sin of Achan, and ambushed and burned the city of AI. He knew this battle required more out of him than the others.

On that day that was like no other, Joshua prayed in faith that God would answer his prayers, make the sun stand still and the moon stop over the Valley of Aijalon until the nation avenged itself on its enemies. Maybe they needed a little more sunlight because they were on their enemy's terrain, and their enemy would know the land better than they would. God answered his prayer. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. They knew that "surely the LORD was fighting for Israel" (verse 14).

Since I finished recording Jesus Lives, this particular story in Joshua has been my life. I have seen God supernaturally intervene for the writing of this Bible study and for the videotaping. I have walked on the water and done what so many people told me was impossible. It was impossible to work an over 40 hours per week full time job and care for a husband and three daughters and write a 10-week study. It was impossible to videotape a Bible study on the budget that we had. It was impossible to videotape without the equipment, director, cameramen, and locations. It was just as impossible to get me the teacher to speak intelligently and understandable as it was to get the donkey to talk to Balaam. Despite all these impossibilities and obstacles, God accomplished the work of writing the Bible study Jesus Lives and the eleven teachings.

Yet, the battle still rages on to get the book published, video tapes edited, and both reproduced. Every now and then, someone will say to me non-chalantly from the sidelines, without really grasping the seriousness of the battle that I'm in, "All in God's timing, my dear. All in God's timing." I almost feel like they should have a cup of tea in one hand and be dressed in their Sunday finest clothes sitting on a blanket and enjoying a spring day while I am in full battle gear with aching muscles from fighting, my body covered with sweat, and attackers surrounding me from all sides. I can't imagine Joshua would have appreciated this encouragement, either, on the battlefield that day.

It brings these kinds of thoughts to my mind, "I'm swinging this sharp sword of truth for my life here. All you can say is God's timing! I know about God's timing. I know that when God answers prayers it is yes, no, and wait. I know wait is sometimes harder than no. I have experienced God's timing many times. But if you are not active in service for the kingdom or have never engaged in the battle of your life, then your encouragement is not hitting the target with me. I know the Lord has promised me this victory. God told Joshua during the march to not be afraid of them and that He had given them into his hand. I know what the outcome will be, but it is at a time like this when I'm looking for some warriors to join me on the battlefield! There is still a battle to be fought. This victory was hard and fought through blood, sweat, tears, and prayer. The victory will be great, and I'm looking for people who want to join God and me in the exhilaration of participating in a miracle! There are people depending on this victory."

Oh, precious one, are you in a battle, too? Do you need someone to join you in prayer? Let's lift each other's battles up to God, Jehovah Sabaoth, the LORD of hosts, our Warrior, and give Him room to show His great power. The enemy will cringe and fall before Him.

Pray with me: Oh, Lord, we know You answer us in Your perfect timing. We know that Your purposes prevail. Teach us, Lord, to join our brothers and sisters on the battlefield. May we engage in Your battles and experience the thrill of participating in victory with You. You never promised us the battle would be easy, but You did promise us that if we trust in You that we will be blessed beyond what we can imagine! Surely, You, LORD, were fighting for Israel that day, and You are fighting for Shirley through this, too. You are fighting our battles. So, Lord, we give You room to be You and be huge in our lives. Fight for us, Lord! Fight for us! It's in the Name of the Coming King who will defeat His foes with the sword of His mouth, in Jesus' Name, Yeshua's Name, we pray. Amen.