No "Ifs" About It

The lyrics of the Chris Tomlin song "Our God" say, "And if Our God is for us, then who could ever stop us? And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?"  Like Roman 8:31, the phrase begins with an "if" which denotes a conditional statement.  The protection, provision, and power of God is not automatically granted to people who have verbally agreed to follow Jesus on the basis of their new birth alone.  When God's people walked wickedly many times He plainly said to them, "I am against you."  In Ezekiel 34 God said He was against the shepherds because they were selfish and neglected their calling.

If our theology is no deeper than worship songs, this might be a shocking revelation:  when we sin against God and refuse to repent, He will begin move against us.  We can shout scriptures and songs, claiming them for our benefit, but God will see we reap what we sow.  God is for us, as long as we are for Him.  Praise the LORD He is compassionate, merciful, and reveals Himself to us even as He did to Joshua.  We think about others being for or against us and assume God is "on our side," but we need to be sure we are on God's side.  On the eve of battle Joshua saw a man with an unsheathed sword in Joshua 5:13.  He boldly approached the figure and asked, "Are you for us, or for our adversaries?"  Basically he asked, "Whose side are you on?"

Joshua 5:14 records the answer:  "So He said, "No, but as Commander of the army of the LORD I have now come." And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshipped, and said to Him, "What does my Lord say to His servant?"  Joshua's direct question was answered with a "No" because it was the wrong question to ask of God.  The Commander of the LORD's army did not ask a question but made a statement of fact:  it was Joshua who needed to decide if he would be on the LORD's side.  Notice the capitalisation of "He" in the NKJV and the fact the commander of the LORD's army received worship.  He then commanded Joshua to take his shoes off his feet because Joshua was in the presence of the One who spoke to Moses from the burning bush.

Our God is for us when we are on His side, and there are no "ifs" about it.  The walls of Jericho falling flat when the Hebrews obeyed God are proof of this.  Taking God's side is more than having knowledge of the truth but walking humbly before our LORD and Saviour Jesus Christ.  The principle rings true spoken by the prophet in 2 Chronicles 15:1-2, "Now the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded. ² And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him: "Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you."  It is good to know God is for us, but we will never experience the fullness of this blessing until we we choose God's side.  We are on His side when our hearts do the equivalent of falling on our faces before the Holy One of Israel and say determined to obey, "What does my LORD say to His servant?"