“At that time I commanded Joshua: “You have seen with your own eyes all that the Lord your God has done to these two kings. The Lord will do the same to all the kingdoms over there where you are going. Do not be afraid of them; the Lord your God himself will fight for you.””
Deuteronomy 3:21-22 NIV

How often do we need this reminder, even after we have been rescued by God before? This time Joshua and the Israelites had some experience in battle, probably just enough to know that they couldn’t win under their own power.

Moses is reminding Joshua of what he has learned over and over again and still believes even though he has been forbidden to enter the Promised Land: ‘the Lord your God himself will fight for you.’

Moses is not bitter at God’s judgement as he continues to train his replacement in the most important things.

I think the two most important words in this passage are two of the smallest. The first one is ‘your.’

Your God, not ours, not theirs, means a God who can be known personally, and can also rescue personally.

The second word is the next to last word, ‘for.’ The Lord won’t fight next to them, over them, or even with them, He will fight for them. What an amazing promise!

This verse reminds me of all the days after my husband had a hard day at work in law enforcement or one of his coworkers were injured.

The worst days for me were all of the next days, when he went back out to the same dangers, the ones God helped me to not dwell on most days.

The days after were the days I felt the most helpless, but also the days I spent the most time in prayer. I needed God to fight for me, and He did.

Part of the battle was reminding my mind again about what it was to dwell on: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. ” Philippians 4:8 NIV

I needed help overcoming what my enemy wanted to be crippling fear, and God helped me to focus and win the battle.

On a side note, I love that the word ‘lovely’ has made this list. Things like the maple tree in my backyard that is changing into its gorgeous fall coat. I love that God made some things to simply be lovely.

When have you needed God to fight for you? How can I pray for you in a current battle?

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