When God Fights For You (Joshua 10)

This Sunday in our Moving Forward series, we will explore Joshua 10 and discover what happens when God's people trust Him in the middle of overwhelming battles. From hailstones falling from heaven to the sun standing still, this chapter reminds us that victory does not come through our strength but through God's power. Join us as we learn that God honors His promises, fights battles we cannot win on our own, and gives victory to those who keep moving forward in faith. 

Transcript

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Well let's take this time and dismiss the kids, the kids' connection there, and we're super thankful to have kids at FBC. So if there's kids that make noise in the service, we don't mind at all. We love that and we encourage that. So thank you for that. I guess you gotta be careful what songs I play downtown Pentwater. We were playing the song Go Cubs Go, and that's what I get. Trying to convert everyone to Cubs, and now everyone's converting me into Tigers fan. Well, hey, uh glad you're here today. A couple announcements before we jump into today's message. You can see on the screen, several of you have been asking, can we get our sermons on a podcast platform? And now we officially are on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts, and all the other podcast platforms. So if you're on vacation or if you missed a sermon, you can go back and listen to those and you see the three different uh QR codes on the screen. Some of you might be wondering, what are those codes? If you don't know, find someone younger, they'll show you how those are used, okay? In a sense, you take your phone, you take a picture of that code, and it sends you right to it. And if you could like or subscribe to it, that'll help others be able to find it. If you haven't noticed too, we've been having a lot of people here at FBC, which is awesome. And with that, just a reminder, if we could try to move in and try to move in from our chairs. I know there's certain chairs that are like your chair. I had my first experience with that here at FBC. I was sitting down talking with someone and I had someone just hovering over me, and I thought, I wonder, am I in their chair? And I look over and I asked that, I was like, Am I in your chair? And they're like, yep. And they just waited until I move, you know? So with our chairs, let's learn to share, and a lot of others sit with us as well. And we're thankful for that. Well, I want to ask you guys a question today. Have you ever been in a situation where you're completely overwhelmed? Have you ever been in a situation in your life where you're completely overwhelmed? I had wise people come up to me and said, Matt, you have four boys. Good luck keeping your refrigerator full. And boy, are they right. I've been learning that. We went to the brown bear with a gift card to get some burgers, and we were chilling there, and Hudson came up to me and said, Dad, I want to eat the bear. I was like, son, that burger is about a pound and a half. There's no way you're gonna be able to finish. That's like a pie. And he's like, No, Dad, I want to do it. So he ends up getting the bear with fries, and he had his little root beer there, and he started to eat everything. I'm just watching, and I'm just like, You're only you're only 10. Like, how? Where are you putting this? And I said, How do you feel? He's like, Oh, that was amazing. I feel so good. I'm thinking, okay, this guy's gonna be full for days. And he gets home, he's like, Dad, what we're gonna have for a snack. I'm like, you gotta be kidding me. I am overwhelmed with trying to keep these boys' bellies full, right? We have first dinner, second dinner, it's just all the time they want to eat. But maybe you're overwhelmed with maybe there's a diagnosis in your life, a financial crisis, a broken relationship. Or you look at it and you thought, you know, I don't have enough strength, I don't have enough wisdom, I don't even have enough resources to handle the things that I'm going through right now. Well, that's where we're at in Joshua chapter 10. So if you have your Bibles, open up to Joshua chapter 10. It reminds us that God's people were never meant to win God's battles with human strength. The Christian life is not about fighting for God, it's about learning to trust God who fights for us. You think about that. The Christian life is not about fighting for God, it's about learning to trust the God who fights for us. And when we're opening up the story, we're gonna see that God fights for Israel. And Joshua has just made peace with the Gibeonites. We talked about that last week. They came in and they deceived them. They had worn-out clothes, worn-out wineskins, different things that they were coming in with, and Joshua fell for their story. And because of that, the Gibeonites teamed up with the Israelites and the word traveled through the land, and there's five Amorite kings who made an alliance against Gibeon for what they had done with Israel. Because Gibeon had made peace with them, they become enemies to everyone else. And Gibeon sends this urgent message to Joshua and the Israelites. Help us. Help us. We don't know what to do. We're getting gained up upon. And this chapter becomes one of the greatest military victories in all of Scripture. Aside from David and Goliath, this is probably one of my favorite battle stories in all of the Bible. Not because Israel was strong, but because God showed up. Now you may think that God is cruel by destroying the Amorites. And we're looking at all these different cities that the Israelites are conquering, but we've got to remember that they have been just given 400 or more years to come to repentance. But they chose to choose sin. They kept pursuing this, and finally, God is allowing them to go into this thing of repentance. In a sense, he's making the wrongs right. He's a God of grace, but he's also a God of justice. Genesis 15, 16 says, and they shall come back here in the fourth generation. For the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete. We must look at this story through this lens. The Amorites' sin is finally being dealt with to its full measure. And that's what we're about to see. There's going to be a lot of blood in this battle. But what a reminder that God is a God of grace, but he's also a God of justice. And so if you're taking notes this morning, the first point is this keep your word even when it's costly. Keep your word even when it's costly. Let's pick up in the story, Joshua 10 and verse 6. And the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal, saying, Do not relax your hand from your servants. Come up to us quickly and save us and help us, for all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the hill country are gathered against us. And so Joshua went up from Gilgal, and he and all the people of war with them, and all the mighty men of valor, and the Lord said to Joshua, Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands. Not a man of them shall stand before you. So we look at this, here's what happened. We got a map on the screen just to kind of show what's going on. And so we have Gilgal. This is the place where we remember Israelite, they consecrated themselves before the Lord. This is where they circumcised each other. They celebrated the Passover and they're remembering God's faithfulness after they had crossed the Jordan. And Gibeon is further over, and you have all these cities, and all these Amorite kings are trying to press in right now to Gibeon up on the top there to try and take over Gibeon for teaming up with the Israelites. And the passage says, Do not relax your hand from your servants. Come up to us quickly and save us and help us. The Gibeonites are in trouble. They're in trouble. Five Amorite kings have united against them because they made peace with Israel. And so they send this urgent message to Joshua. Come and help us. We're in dire need. What's remarkable is Joshua goes. He's true to his heard. Remember, these are the people they completely deceived, they manipulated, they came up with this brilliant story, and yet Joshua decides to be a man of his word. When he could have said, you know what? You guys tricked us, and now you're getting what you deserve. This would have been the perfect time. It was their fault. They got themselves in this mess. Why should we risk our lives for them? Now I find it interesting that in all this context, Gilgal was a place they kept going back to you. They would fight a battle. They kept on going back to you. And I think it was interesting how God made them consecrate themselves there because it was remembering their identity. Every time they go back to Gilgal, they remember who they were and they would go and fight a battle again. And so Joshua immediately gathers his army and marches all night to defend Gibeon. Now you can see on the screen, Gibeon and Gilgal right on the top. It's about 20 miles from Gilgal to Gibeon. And so he was true to his word all night, knowing that he's going to take on five kingdoms, hiking 20 miles, mainly uphill, through the night, to be a man of his word. Because Joshua understood something important. God's people are people of integrity. The covenant had been made, the promise had been spoken, the oath had been sworn before God, and Joshua was unwilling to break his word, even when keeping it became difficult. There was a cost, a cost to integrity. This wasn't a simple decision. This was Joshua sending a letter. He was marching his army 20 miles uphill. Can you imagine all the stuff they're trying to carry from Gilgal to Gibeon just to be true to their word? They're marching through the night and they're thinking in their head, we've only conquered one king at a time, one kingdom at a time. And now when we get to this place Gibeon, we're going to take on five. Imagine the thoughts as the soldiers are marching through the night and they're thinking that we should just let them fall into their deception with the Amorite kings. Keeping his word required sacrifice, it required effort, it required risk and courage. Integrity always costs something. It's never just handed over, it always costs something. I love this quote. Talent will get you to the top of the mountain. Integrity will keep you on top of the mountain. And what a life skill that's so underutilized. Talent will get you to the top of the mountain. You can meet all kinds of talented people that can get all the way to the top of the mountain. But oftentimes they fall because they lack one thing: integrity. Because integrity will keep you on top of the mountain. Character is revealed when obedience becomes expensive. And we're seeing the Israelites, they are using this thing of expense. It's a lot of pain walking 20 miles. What Joshua could have done, he could have said, you know what? I'm going to look for loopholes in this contract that maybe with Gibeon. He didn't do that. He could have justified breaking this agreement. He could have blamed for their deception, but he was a man of his word. He chose integrity over convenience. And God's response, notice what happens next. As Joshua is marching through the night, God speaks. God doesn't rebuke Joshua. God doesn't say, You made this mess. God honors Joshua's commitment to do what is right. Sometimes God's greatest blessings come after we've chosen obedience through difficult circumstances. I was just talking to my kids. We had some contractors come through our house, and contractors sometimes have a positive light, and sometimes they have a negative light. And I was talking with one who was putting gutters up at our parsonage home, and we were talking through the gutters and everything. He said, This is a very old home. I said, It's from 1946. He's like, Yep. He's like, I just want to let you know I could put these gutters up with the bolts I have, but when that snow comes, they're gonna fall. And you're probably gonna call me back to do this again. And I was like, wow, what an honest contractor. I was like, what do you recommend we do? He's like, I'm gonna leave the site, I'm gonna go to Ace Hardware, and I'm gonna pick up bigger bolts. So when snow comes, these gutters don't fall. That stayed with me later when he came back. I said, I want to ask you a question. Are you the owner of this company? He said, No, I'm just an employee. And I thought to myself, I said, Why did you go the extra mile? Just curious. Because I'm working for the Lord. He's my ultimate boss. Everything I do, he sees. And everything I am doing as a contractor, I'm working for him before I'm working for any earthly boss. I shook that man's hand. I said, I'm really impressed with you and your company, and that you do that. He was a man of integrity. It stands out. I was telling my kids, if you are just a person of integrity, you could get any job in this world because it's lacking in our culture. It's not prioritized. And Joshua's integrity was tested. It was tested on this battlefield. Any pass. A true measure of integrity is not what you do when keeping your word is easy. But what you do when keeping your word becomes costly. It was inconvenient. And yet he chose to be a man of his word. And we live in a culture that treats commitment as disposable. Church commitments are dropped when they become inconvenient. Friendships are disregarded when they require effort. Promises are broken when they become costly. But followers of Jesus, they're called to be different. We're called to be different. Our word should actually mean something. We should be known for people who actually show up, who follow through, who keep our commitments, who honor our promises to others. Not because it's easy, but because it's right. And because God will bless that. The handshake and our word should mean something in today's world as believers in Christ. And so we see right from the beginning, keeping your word even when it's costly. Keep your word even when it's costly. Number two, if you're taking notes, we gotta trust God when the odds are impossible. We gotta trust God when the odds are impossible. Moving on in the story in verse 9, so Joshua came up upon them suddenly, having marched up all night from Gilgal, and the Lord threw them into a panic before Israel, who struck them with a great blow at Gibeon, and chased them all the way of the ancient Beth Horem, and struck them as far as Azek and Makeda. And as they fled before Israel while they were going down the ascent of Beth Horam, the Lord threw down large stones from heaven on them as far as Akeda, and they died. There were more who died because of the hailstones than the sons of Israel who killed them from the sword. At that time Joshua spoke to the Lord in that day, when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in sight of Israel, Son, stand still at Gibeon, and moon in the valley of Eklon. And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped until the nation took vengeance on their enemies. Is this not written in the book of Jashar? And the sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set before about a whole day, and there has been no day like it since. When the Lord heeded the voice of man, for the Lord fought for Israel. I mean, can he picture that story? Picturing Joshua is just Marsh his army all night, they're exhausted, and they're getting ready to fight five kings, and all of a sudden these hailstones come flying out of nowhere and hitting all the enemy. Hitting all the enemy going through. And verse 10 says, And God threw them into a panic before Israel. Israel didn't have to do anything, nothing at all. And the first thing that happens isn't Israel's strategy, it's Israel's strength. It isn't Joshua's leadership. The Lord acted first. Before Israel ever swings a sword, God already is fighting on their behalf, taking on the impossible battle right before their eyes in their exhaustion. And then something happens incredible. As the enemy flees, God sends these massive hailstones from heaven. Verse 11, there was more who died from the hailstones than the sons of Israel who killed with the sword. And so you can see this battle happen right before our eyes. Think about Israel's fighting, Israel's participating, but God is doing all of the heavy lifting as they're fighting. And the text wants us to understand this decisive factor in victory was not Israel's strength, but God's intervention. God was the one that was going and fighting on their behalf. And Joshua prays one of the boldest prayers. One of the boldest prayers in all the Bible. Son, stand still at Gibeon. And moon in the valley of Aklon. So Joshua doesn't ask for a little bit of help. He asks for more daylight. He asks for more daylight as they're fighting. Give us more sun so that we can take on the enemies. We can keep on fighting the battle. He asks God to give Israel more time to finish the battle, and God answers, the sun stands still. The day is extended. Now there's a lot of debate on this. Did the sun literally stand still? Right? So let me go down this little rabbit trail on this. Let me ask you Does the sun set or does the sun rise? And your answer would be it's kind of hard to hear. The sun sets and the sun rises, right? Oh, there's smart people in this congregation today. I was trying to trick you. Because we often say the sun sets and the sun rises. But actually it doesn't. We're the ones moving. The earth is the one that orbits around the sun. We're the ones that move. The sun isn't moving at all. It's us that is moving and we're orbiting around. And so some of you have forgotten that the earth is still moving, right? And now meteorologists will say, they'll say, okay, the sunrise will be, and then the sunset will be. They'll say that because they're talking from an observation standpoint. They're not talking scientifically, they're talking from an observation. We'll see the sunrise and we'll see the sun set. And so there's ancient proof and documentation from Egyptians that said there was this longer day, okay? And also the Greeks affirm this. And then in emperors in China in the 1400s, they talk about this extra day. And I found it interesting there's this debate in NASA. There's this researcher named Harold Hill who had this technology in the 60s and 70s that would show what happened in the past when it came to the times we orbited around the sun. And they checked the computers, they went all the way back to the time of Joshua and they are dumbfounded. The sun literally stood still. But it wasn't a full 24 hours. In their findings, they found that the sun stood still for 23 hours and 20 minutes. And so they're trying to figure out where's the extra 40 minutes. And they were dumbfounded by that. So they started going back to the Bible because the Bible is true in the story. So it's hard to say, well, maybe there's another story in there. And they started to go into the story of Hezekiah, who was on his deathbed and was visited by the prophet Isaiah and told him he was not going to die. And Hezekiah wanted some sort of sign from God. And he said, Well, we'll send the sun 10 degrees forward. He's like, No, no, no, no, that's not good enough of a sign for me that I'm gonna last 15 more years. I need a bigger sign. And so he said, We'll have the sun go back 10 degrees. And as they looked in that in the story in 2 Kings in the 20th chapter, they realized having the sun go back 10 degrees was 40 minutes on the dot. And this NASA researcher, Harold Hill, was dumbfounded by the results that they found. And there's debates on this, but looking at that, you can see that the sun stood still. It stood still, it didn't keep on moving. 23 hours and 20 minutes plus 40 minutes from that story with Hezekiah. The missing day, the space scientists had to make allowance for in their logbook as they're looking through the times we orbited. So going away from that side note, I think it's pretty fascinating. Why did Joshua pray such a big prayer? Why did he pray such a big prayer? Because Joshua had learned something. When God makes a promise, faith acts boldly. And he keeps his promises. Every single time. I have given them into your hands, is what God says. And Joshua was trying to convince God to help. He was acting on what God already had promised. He knew that God would be true to his promises. And he was going to be faithful. And faith doesn't create God's promises, faith believes God's promises. Notice the order. Joshua didn't say Gilgal and pray for a miracle. He marched all night when God told him to do that. He entered the battle, he obeyed, then he trusted God to do what only God can do. And many people want God to do the impossible while they do nothing. Joshua teaches us that faith works differently. We obey, then we move forward. Going back to the whole series and how we move forward. We trust God, then we see the results. This illustration, we just had a picture of it on the screen. This guy walking a tightrope with a wheelbarrow, right? There's a famous story of that. He was walking on this tightrope across Niagara Falls. And everyone is cheering, and he walked with a wheelbarrow all the way across. And he started to talk with the crowd when he got done. He said, Do you believe I can do it again? And the crowd shouts out, Yes, you did it once. You could probably do it again. Do you believe that I could push someone across in this wheelbarrow? And they're like, Yeah, absolutely we do. That'd be awesome. And he looks at a man and says, Will you jump into the wheelbarrow? And there was silence, right? There is silence. It's one thing to believe something is possible. It's another thing to stake our life on it. And Joshua didn't just believe God could win the battle. He acted in belief and marched all night into an impossible situation. Twenty miles, exhausted, five, not one king, but five kings they took on. Faith is not merely believing God can do it, faith is stepping into that wheelbarrow when he says, Trust me. If God were to come to you and have you go into the wheelbarrow, would you say yes? Would you say, Oh, I'm too scared of the wheelbarrow, or would you jump into it? And many of us are facing battles. They feel impossible. There's absolutely no way I can fight this battle. A marriage that seems broken, maybe it's a prodigal child, a financial burden, and the natural response is fear. But all throughout the book of Joshua, we see God say, do not fear. And our greatest obstacles are often opportunities for God to display his greatest power. Every time they reach an obstacle, God shows up and shows how amazing He is. The focus of this chapter is not astronomy, the focus is God's sovereignty. The God who created the heavens and the earth, he created the sun, he can tell it to stop. He can tell the moon to stand still. He's the one we focus on in the story. The God who rules the creation can intervene for his people. The same God who can tell the sun to stand still and tell the moon to stay is the same God who can work in the situations of life you face right now. The size of your obstacle is never greater than the power of God. So trust God when the odds are impossible. We gotta trust Him. And I love seeing Joshua faithful and obedient and trusting. We need to do the same thing. Trust God when the odds are impossible. Last but not least, number three, finish the task God has given you. Finish the task that God has given you. In verse 16, these kings fled and hid themselves in the cave of Makeda. And it was told to Joshua the five kings have been found, hidden in the cave of Makeda. And Joshua said, Roll large stones against the mouth of the cave and set men by it and guard them. But do not stay there for yourselves. Pursue your enemies, attack their rear guard, do not let them enter the cities, for the Lord your God has given them into your hand. And when Joshua and the sons of Israel had finished striking them with a great blow until they were wiped out, and when the remnant had remained of them, he had entered into the fortified cities, then all the people returned safe to Joshua in the camp at Makeda. Not a man moved his tongue against any of the people of Israel. Then Joshua said, Open the mouth of the cave. Bring out those five kings out to me from the cave. And so they did so. They brought those five kings out to him from the cave, and the king of Jerusalem, and the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmooth, and the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon. And when they brought those kings out to Joshua, Joshua summoned all the men of Israel and said to the chiefs of the men of war who had gone with them, Come near, put your feet on the necks of these kings. Then they came near and they put their feet on the necks, and Joshua said to them, Do not be afraid or dismayed, be strong and courageous, for thus the Lord will do to all your enemies against whom you fight. And afterwards, Joshua struck them, and he put them to death, and he hanged them on five trees, and they hun on the trees until evening. But at that time, in the going down of the sun, Joshua commanded, and they took them down from the trees and threw them in the cave where they had been hiding themselves, and they set large stones against the mouth of the cave, which remained to the very day. And as for Makeda, Joshua captured it on that day, and he struck it in its king and the edge of the sword. He did a voted to destruction. Every person in it he left, none remaining. And he did to the king of Makeda just as he had done to the king of Jericho.

unknown 25:26

Wow!

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What a battle! Can you imagine being in this setting? The battle's essentially won, and God has thrown the enemy into panic. The kings are hiding in the cave. They are fearful. What they just saw, all their men are died, have died from these hailstones. And the sun stood still, and they're like, Who is this Israelite God? And they're hiding in fear in the cave. But Joshua doesn't stop. In fact, when he hears the five kings are hiding in the caves, his response is surprising to me. Roll large stones against the mouth of the cave and set men by it to guard them, but do not stay there yourselves. Pursue your enemies. Don't stop until the job's done. Joshua refused to get distracted. He understood something important. A battle partially won is not a battle finished. And the kings can wait. The mission comes first. Don't celebrate too early. Times we do. We think we got it all figured out, we're good to go. We just did what we had to do, but it's not all the way done. And Joshua could have gathered anyone around the cave, but he could have held a victory parade. Instead, he says, keep on pursuing. Why? Because there's still work to do. And I think as Christians, one of the greatest dangers in Christian life is stopping too soon. Many people start well, but few finish well. Joshua understood the assignment. Notice the language throughout the passage. Pursue them. Attack them. Do not let them escape. Finish the job. Joshua knows that God had given them the victory, but Israel must still walk in obedience. And God's promises never eliminate our responsibility. God had promised victory. Joshua still had to lead. Israel still had to fight. The enemy still had to be pursued. And then we see the five kings. Eventually, the kings are brought out. Joshua gathers the leaders of Israel and he calls them and said, Come on out, put your feet on the necks of these kings. So you imagine all their heads laying there and they put their feet on the necks of the kings. For years, these kings had ruled many people and brought them into a tyranny of fear. And now we see these five kings laying right before the people of Israel. Put your feet on their necks. No longer will we be feared by these kings. Joshua says, Do not be afraid, do not be dismayed, be strong and courageous, for thus the Lord will do to your enemies against whom you fight. What a vision cast. What a military leader right there, just saying, Look at what God has done. I'm not taking credit for this. Look what God has done. We didn't take on one, we took on all five, and look what God did. And one of the themes throughout Scripture is finishing. They finished the work. We see that they ended up killing the kings. They finished the job. One of the themes throughout scripture is finishing the work. Noah had finished the ark. Nehemiah had finished the wall. Paul had finished the race. Jesus finished the work of the Father, gave him on the cross when he cried, it is finished. God is still a God who completes what he begins. And he causes people to do the same. It's no different than a farmer in the field. He can plant the seed, he can water the crop, he can remove the weeds, he protects it from pests, and then a few weeks before harvest, he looks out of the field and says, I'm tired. I've done enough. So he walks away. All the work was real, but because he failed to finish, he never enjoyed the harvest. Everyone would say the same thing. You were too close to quit. You could have had the harvest, but he quit too soon. And Joshua understood something important. Partial obedience leaves unfinished battles. So he told his men do not stay there yourself. Pursue your enemies, and Joshua refused to celebrate too early. I love that. The Christian life is not about beginning well, it's about faithfully completing what God has called us to do. Thinking of how we start and also how we finish. Many people have unfinished obedience in their life. You gotta forgive someone. Yeah, but you know what they did to me, Matt? Oh, it hurt so bad. I can't forgive them. We have to obey. God's told us to forgive, even if you don't feel like forgiving. He told us to forgive. Maybe it's serving somewhere. I don't want to serve. I like making all this money and I don't want to move from my family, and I don't want to do this. I don't want to be inconvenienced. Maybe God's telling you to serve in some way. That we haven't been obedient and we haven't finished what he told us to do. Maybe it was to share the gospel with someone. There's countless people in Pountwater who will not go to heaven. Our job here is not done. We need to share the gospel with those around. I just ran into someone that I had met at the beach, and I was sitting there with my five kids, just playing on the park. He said, You know, one of the most important decisions I made when I was your age, I said, What was that? I chose to follow Jesus. I love this man's courage to go and talk to a stranger. He never met me before. And he told me that. We need to be doing that. There's unfinished business here on this earth. Because God doesn't want any to perish. He wants all to come to be with him. But the problem is sin. The problem is fear. And Joshua's telling the leaders, don't fear. God is the one that goes and fights in our behalf. I think one of the greatest finishing of the task is Jesus on the cross. The Father sent the earth, and he did not quit when the crowds left. He did not quit when the disciples failed because they failed miserably around him. And he did not quit when the cross stood before him. Jesus finished the work of redemption because he finished his mission. We can be saved. Those who call in the name of Jesus, they will be saved. You realize he finished the work so that we could be with him for all eternity. Finish the task that God's given you. Joshua 10 teaches us we gotta keep our word when it's costly. We gotta keep our word when it's costly. I don't feel like doing it, but keep your word when it's costly. We gotta trust God when the odds are impossible. And we gotta finish the task that God has given you. What does this mean for our lives? We can sit in the sanctuary, we can talk about what does it mean to apply this to our lives? Is there a commitment that you need to honor? Then go and do it. Stop making a list of all these excuses. Be a man and a woman of your word. Integrity. If we as believers aren't doing it, why would the world do it? We need to set the example. Be a man or woman of your word. Is there a commitment you need to honor? Go do it. Is there an impossible battle I've been fighting on my own? Surrender at the foot of the cross. Let him know. This is too big, God. This is way too big for me. I need you to go on my behalf. I need you to set the sun still and the moon be still. I need you to go and fight my battles, God. He hears your prayers. He'll go and fight your battles. What do I need to finish that God asked me to do? There's so much unfinished business. I can't tell you how many conversations I've heard. I'm retired and I'm done. You're not done. If you're still breathing, God's still working. God used Moses when he was 80. He just started using him at 80. All that refining, all that conditioning. I'm jealous. I look at white hair and I think that's wisdom. God has put you through the ringer so you can do and finish the work he's called you to. These kids and grandkids, they need to know. They need to know the way. Media has to stop raising our kids. We have to tell them this is the way. This book has all the answers you need. It's right here. We got to finish the work. We have so many unfinished tasks before us. Help parents. Every single kid they have, they don't have a manual. It's overwhelming. People have asked me, what's it like with five kids? Imagine you're drowning and someone throws you a baby. That's what I always tell them. It's hard, it's difficult. And if there's been someone who's been through the reno, who's who's been through life, who's been seasoned, they can come along and say, I am praying for you. I want to help you, I want to encourage you. That's finishing the work. Who has God put on your heart? I've heard grandparenting is one of the greatest jobs in all the world. There's so many kids that need to be reaffirmed that this is the way. We got to finish the work. The same God who stopped the sun, the same God who sent hail from heaven, the same God who raised Jesus from the dead is still fighting for his people today. He hears your prayers. He hears every one of them. And our prayers outlive us. Joshua 1 9, it's all throughout this book. Be strong and courageous. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Every time Joshua went, that's what God reminded him. I am with you. I will be with you. I will be with you. Do not fear. I will be with you. We can go and we can be courageous and we can finish the work that God has called us to do. Father, I just lift this congregation before you. There is fear in this room. There are lies that we have believed. Father, help us to surrender those at the foot of the cross. Help us to be men and women of our word. When we say something, it means something, Father. When someone at FBC says they're going to do something, they're going to follow it through, Father. Let that be known in the community and all throughout this world, Father. Help us with these battles that we face, Father. They're so large. And we're looking at Joshua and we think, wow, what a leader. You're going against five kings verses one, and you're marching all the way through the night. Father, there's so many battles that we see right now that you think, oh, that's not that big of a deal. I can take that on for them right now if they just surrender that battle before me. Father, help us to do that. Help us to surrender battles before you. And Father, help us to finish the work you've called us to do. Father, I know your Holy Spirit moves through this room. I know your Holy Spirit compels us. I know your Holy Spirit is telling us to do certain things. Father, I pray today is the day we are obedient to your spirit. And we follow through with what you've told us to do. Help us to learn from the example and your word and through this story, Father. Father, there's someone here today who has never made the decision to follow you. Father, I pray they would walk with you. They'd confess with their mouth that you are Lord and they would confess their sins before you and they would come and follow you, Father. They would no longer follow themselves, they would follow you and be able to have that same relationship that Joshua had with you. We thank you for your word and pray you continue to move through this place, move to this little town of Pentwater, Father. And all God's people said, Amen. Let's stand together.