Bowing Before Battle - Joshua 5:10-15 (3)

My father-in-law makes no arguments that he can't walk outside very easily with no shoes on. His feet are a little on the super sensitive side. He can walk on the sidewalk/driveway, but try to walk on the street or some other place and he may not even try!

You may fall into a category like this. Taking shoes off causes you to be a bit more aware of your surroundings because you are no longer standing in the comfort of your shoes, but must take the protection you have off of your feet. Do you suppose that might be one of the reasons that God asked Moses and Joshua to take off their shoes when they approached Him with one of their big assignments? God wanted to have their attention put on Him, have their safety dependent on Him, have them become vulnerable to their surroundings needing to lean on Him.

Yesterday, we concluded our look at Joshua 5:10-15 by examining how Joshua removed his shoes before he came before God. Here are some applications to choose from to use this week as you think about removing your S.H.O.E.S. when you go before God...

1. Self -Recently I was watching a reality show where a challenge was to go down a giant waterslide. The contestants go in pairs, this happened to be a couple that was dating. The man was not scared, but the woman was very scared of heights and not too keen on water. She waited so long that another team passed her, causing them to be last. Which meant they were sent home. If she would have just put self to the side and went down the slide, which would have taken about 10 seconds, they would still be in the race, however, she didn't. I think there are many times that God looks at us and thinks, "If you'll just do this, you'd be amazed at what I'm going to do with it." Consider Him before you consider self, next time!
   
2. Habits - Habits are hard to break. However, try to do something different this week to give yourself time to get near to God. Take a different route to work, go to a quieter place for lunch, sit in your car before you go to work/school and pray, listen to the Christian radio station if you tend to listen to something else. There are lots of possibilities...just get nearer to Him.
   
3. Obstacles - Take time, turn off your phone, go to bed earlier, get up earlier, turn off your computer monitor, find different friends, these could be some things that become obstacles in allowing you to approach God. Remove them if they are impeding your access.
   
4. Environment -It may be getting too cold to go outside, but finding some place that is quiet can make a big difference. Even if the place is quiet, you may have to remove noise in your head. Find a place that allows you to draw near to Him, especially as you go into a "battle".
   
5. Safety - God wants us to depend on Him. He's a "jealous God". If you decide to literally remove your shoes, don't do it for selfish and self-righteous reasons, but do it to draw closer to Him. You may be less "safe" but it may cause you to depend on Him more...try it, let me know what happened.
   

Joshua is about to go toward Jericho for battle. He is encountered by a man from the "Lord's army", and bows down, worships, then takes his shoes off. As you get ready for a battle or are experiencing one right now, go to God. You may want to bow down, revere Him, taking your shoes off as you are standing on "holy ground".

Battles are not what I would call "enjoyable", so why do it on your own? Take God with you as you experience them in life!