How to Fight an Unseen Enemy
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I’m losing track of the days now.
At first I kept a mental count at all times. Day 1 . . . Day 3 . . . Day 6 . . .
I caught a cold two weeks before Illinois officially was declared a “shelter-in-place” state, and because everyone kept saying “Don’t go out if you’re sick!” . . . I didn’t. I stayed put, for the most part, for two weeks BEFORE they said we had to stay in. So I’ve been sheltering for a while now.
Which is why I’ve lost count.
And that’s OK. I don’t need to keep track of how many days we’ve been sheltered at home. It’s a lot. And yesterday we got word that it’s going to be a lot more days until we can go out again.
These days are surreal, that’s for sure. Like nothing we’ve ever seen or imagined in our lives. I keep thinking that the war analogies are especially appropriate, only this time we can’t see our enemy. Our enemy is microscopic, but deadly. And we have to be particularly vigilant in order to combat it.
At the same time as I’ve been thinking about modern day warfare (sheltering-in-place), I’ve been reading the account of the Israelites’ journey into the Promised Land in Deuteronomy and Joshua. It’s amazing to me how God’s word speaks to where we are right now. Every fear that we’re feeling today, every anxious thought about the war we’re engaged in, has already been felt by people who have gone before us.
And God, in his mercy to us today, has shown us just how to live in uncertain, anxious times when we’re fighting an enemy we cannot see.
In the opening chapters of Joshua, the people of Israel find themselves on the precipice of a war. They have been wandering in the wilderness for 40 years, and the man who had led them all that time, Moses, has just died. There they are, standing on the banks of the Jordan River, ready to claim the land that God has told them is theirs.
But between a settled, comfortable life and where they are standing right now, lies a river to cross and many battles to fight. The Israelites can’t see their enemies, but they know they’re out there, waiting for them. They know the war is going to be long and difficult. Lives will be lost. Things are looking grim.
In the first four chapters of Joshua, as the Israelites prepare to go to battle, there is one theme that really stuck out to me: Remember.
In chapter 1, God tells Joshua to remember Moses who had just died, and he calls Joshua to lead the people with integrity and valor, just like Moses did.
In chapter 2, the spies are called to remember Rahab, who hid them from the king. When they come back to Jericho, they are to look for the scarlet cord hanging from Rahab’s window and remember her good deed, saving her entire family from harm. In fact, the entire human race would be saved because the spies remembered Rahab (see Matthew 1:5).
In chapter 3, the people are called to remember Egypt, the place where they had fled from slavery, and how God had saved them from their enemies by parting the Red Sea. Remember this, God is saying, to the people standing on the edge of the Jordan. I’m going to do it again!
Finally, in chapter 4, they are told to remember God by setting up 12 stones that they had taken from the Jordan River. And when their children ask, “What do these stones mean?” they are to recount God’s faithfulness to them.
These chapters got me to thinking: what do I need to remember right now?
Several specific scenarios came to mind.
I remembered how God saw me through a health crisis several years ago that landed me in the hospital for 12 days. How he protected me through a pretty nasty surgery and then faithfully walked me through weeks of recovery. He saw my family through some very scary times.
I remembered how God faithfully provided financially for our young family when money was especially tight. And I remembered these verses from Psalm 37:25: “I have been young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.” God has been faithful to provide for our needs.
I remembered times when my children were in danger or had health issues and how God protected them through all of it. His watch care over my kids has been amazing.
What I know, and yet what I need to remind myself of every day, is that God is faithful. He is faithful today. He will be faithful tomorrow. And he will remain faithful throughout eternity. It’s just who he is.
And because he is faithful, we can be confident and unafraid.
Here’s what God told Joshua as they stood on the precipice of war (It’s also my favorite verse in all of Scripture!):
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9
This week, take some time to jot down some of the ways God has been faithful to you in the past. Take time to think about and thank God for the ways he is showing himself faithful to you, even in this current crisis. I bet it will ease some anxiety for you. I know it does for me.
And you know what I’d love? I’d love for you to share in the comments one way that you’ve experienced God’s faithfulness, either in the past or in the present. Let’s encourage one another with these things.
Wishing you a good day of remembering!
