Have you ever heard people say,”God is in control”?  Ultimately, I’m not here to argue that question. God is God and He can do whatever He wants, BUT most of the time that comment comes along with an actionless lifestyle.  It allows people to not feel compelled to any type of responsibility because God is in control, and He will do what He wants with or without us.

Then on the other side of the fence we have men and women ready to start a civil war to fight for the freedoms they feel we are losing. While noble and courageous, I’m not sure that kind of action is what God is asking for either. A scripture comes to mind from Isaiah 55:8 which says, “’For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord. “

I love this verse from 2 Kings 19:32-35. It tells a miraculous intervention from the Lord Himself. “Therefore, thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria. ‘He shall not come to this city,’ declares the Lord. ‘For I will defend this city to save it for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.’ Then it happened that night that the angel of the Lord went out, and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men rose early in the morning, behold all of them were dead.’” (You can also read of this account in Isaiah 37:31-36.)

I LOVE this!!  And I know God can do this. I am not limiting God’s hand on anything He wants to do… But I believe the Lord wants us to show up in these days. I believe He has a plan and He wants to partner with us to see that plan come to pass, and there are many more Biblical examples that show this type of partnership, working together with the Lord than the example above where the Lord just divinely intervened.

The Red Sea

In Exodus 14 we find the Children of Israel standing at the Red Sea. Israel is freaking out because they look behind them and Egypt is rushing toward them. Pharoah had changed his mind and realized all his free labor had left the country. He said in Exodus 14:5, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?”

So here they are, trapped at the Red Sea with nothing but water in front of them and Egypt’s army rushing up behind them. They start accusing Moses and saying all kinds of words that, in their fear, were not really true. Listen to what Moses says to them; Verses 13 and 14 say, “But Moses said to the people, ‘Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.’”

Now…listen to what the Lord says to Moses. “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward. And as for you (Moses), lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land.”

Did you see this? This was dual partnership. God told Moses to do his part and God did His. Moses did his 5% (which didn’t really make any sense in reality) and God did His 95%  and worked a miracle! The children of Israel walked on dry land across the Red Sea then God told Moses to lift his staff again on the other side (verse 26) and the waters came crashing down on Egypt’s army drowning them all.

To our natural minds, this makes no sense.  What does lifting your staff toward the water have anything to do with the Red Sea parting, but it was what God asked him to do and God worked the rest out His way and for Israel’s good.

Gideon’s Story

Now let’s look at Gideon in Judges 6.  Verse 11  says “Then the angel of the Lord came and sat under the oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite as his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press in order to save it from the Midianites. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, ‘The Lord is with you, O valiant warrior.’”

Did you get this? Gideon is HIDING in a winepress beating out wheat secretly so the Midianites won’t steal it and the angel of the Lord calls him a valiant warrior. Gideon is like, “Huh? Me?”  He sees himself anything but a warrior, but God sees us as who we really are, not as life’s circumstances have painted us to be.

Verse 14 says, “And the Lord looked at him and said, ‘Go in this your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?’” (Gideon is dumbfounded…He is not sure he’s hearing correctly from this angel of the Lord.)

So, to make this story shorter, after several fleeces God convinces Him that he is seeing clearly and verses 22-23 say, “When Gideon saw that he was the angel of the Lord, he said, ‘Alas, O Lord God! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.’ And the Lord said to him, ‘Peace to you, do not fear, you shall not die.’”

 Then God proceeds to give him a plan.  A plan that makes NO SENSE in the natural. First, he needs to reduce his fighting force. The Lord tells Gideon that he has too many people. (What?) He doesn’t want Israel to think that they beat the Midianites with their own strength so he tells him to take his willing men down to the river to see how they drink. Those who drank by putting their hands to their mouths were only 300 men and God said to let the rest of the people go home.

Then in Judges 7:16  he divides the 300 men into three groups.  He gave each man a pitcher, a torch and a shofar. Each man was to put the torch inside the pitcher. Verse 18-22 says, “When I and all who are with me blow the trumpet, then you also blow the trumpets all around the camp, and say, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon.’ So, Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just posted watch; and they blew the trumpets (shofars) and smashed the pitchers that were in their hands. When the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers, they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing, and cried, ‘A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!’”

“And each stood in his place around the camp, and all the army ran, crying out as they fled. And when they blew 300 trumpets, the Lord set the sword of one against another even throughout the whole army; and the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the edge of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath.”

Again, this is an example of men doing their part and God doing His part. God literally had the enemy killing themselves as the rest fled for their lives. Man did their small part and God did the most!! Don’t you just LOVE this? And again, the strategy made no sense what-so-ever.

Israel at Jericho

Next let’s look at the Children of Israel as they take Jericho. This is found in Joshua chapters 3-6. This is a most interesting battle plan. This example starts with Israel at the Jordan river. In 3:14-17 this generation of Israel experienced the same miraculous crossing of a body of water as their parents. They crossed the Jordan river, in flood stage it says, on dry ground. It says, “So it came about when the people set out from their tents to cross the Jordan with the priests carrying the ark of the covenant before the people, and when those who carried the ark came into the Jordan and the feet of the priests carrying the ark were dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the days of harvest), that the waters which were flowing down from above stood and rose up in one heap, a great distance away at Adam, the city that is beside Zarathan; and those which were flowing down toward the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. So, the people crossed opposite Jericho. And the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground, until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan.”

So, let’s lay a little ground work. These people were the children who were born in the wilderness when their parents refused to believe that they would have the victory over Jericho. Whether they thought they had to fight in the flesh to win on their own or whether they just didn’t think God would win a victory for them (even though He had miraculously provided for them time and time again on their journey), I don’t know, but I suspect the enemy was telling them that it was going to be up to them to conquer on their own, not a partnership of working together.  None the less, here are the very children of these men and women who are now at the same moment in time. This time they obeyed instead of freaking out.

First of all I think it’s important to note who is leading this attack against Jericho. Joshua 5:13-14 says, “Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, ‘Are you for us or for our adversaries?’ And he said, ‘No, rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the Lord.’ And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to him, ‘What has my lord to say to his servant?’

I love this verse. Joshua is asking, “Are you for us or them” and the angel says, “No.”  Don’t ask me why I think this is so humorous. The angel is saying, “Let’s do this my way.”

So, here was the plan that the angel laid out. Verses 6:6-10 say, “So Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said to them, ‘Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests carry seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord.’ Then he said to the people, ‘Go forward, and march around the city, and let the armed men go on before the ark of the Lord.’ And it was so, that when Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the Lord went forward and blew the trumpets; and the ark of the covenant of the Lord followed them. And the armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard came after the ark, while they continued to blow the trumpets. But Joshua commanded the people saying, ‘You shall not shout nor let your voice be heard, nor let a word proceed out of your mouth until the day I tell you, ‘Shout!’ Then you shall shout.’”

Does this plan to take Jericho make tactical sense? Is walking around the walls of Jericho a good war plan? Wouldn’t they be open targets for the warriors of Jericho? The walls were thick enough to run chariots on, so they were like roads. Jericho’s army could have sat up there all day long and picked people off but evidently that didn’t happen. Scripture does not say this. It seems that Israel was divinely protected.

Also, keep in mind, Israel had not been trained to war. They had spent the last 40 years surviving one- day-at-a-time in the wilderness, not going to boot camp to become a good soldier.  But still, don’t you imagine they would have had to take a deep breath, gulp, and say “Ok…we’re going to obey what Joshua heard from the angel of the lord, even though this makes no sense what-so-ever.” I believe this took great faith to act out, and this time they did not behave like their fathers.

Continuing in Joshua 6:11-16 it says, “So he had the ark of the Lord taken around the city, circling it once; then they came into the camp and spent the night in the camp. Now Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. And the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of ram’s horns before the ark of the Lord went on continually, and blew the trumpets; and the armed men went before them, and the rear guard came after the ark of the Lord, while they continued to blow the trumpets. Thus, the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp; they did so for six days.”

“Then it came about on the seventh day that they rose early at the dawning of the day and marched around the city in the same manner seven times; only on that day they marched around the city seven times. And it came about at the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, ‘Shout! For the Lord has given you the city.’”

(Verse 20) “So the people shouted and priests blew the trumpets; and it came about, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, that the people shouted with a great shout and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight ahead, and they took the city.”

This is another great example of God leading people to partner with Him in a most unusual manner to accomplish a victory. The tactical strategy made no sense, but the people obeyed with their actions and God did the rest.

Here is my favorite example

Jehoshaphat VS Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir

Let me give a little history here. Jehoshaphat was the king of Judah. He was one of the good kings who honored God and sought His wisdom.  2 Chronicles 20 tells of this example of God’s partnership with His people.

“Now it came about after this that the sons of Moab and the sons of Ammon, together with some of the Meunites, came to make war against Jehoshaphat. (vs 1) And Jehoshaphat was afraid and turned his attention to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. (vs 3) So Judah gathered together to seek help from the Lord; they even came from all the cities of Judah to seek the Lord.”

First of all, I’d like to say that I LOVE that they were seeking the Lord about this instead of panicking and allowing their responses to be reactions instead of moving in an offensive posture. They took the time to seek the Lord.

As they were seeking the Lord together, in an assembly, the Spirit came upon Jahaziel and this is what he said. (vs 15-18) “Listen, all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: thus says the Lord to you, ‘Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s. Tomorrow, go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the valley in front of the wilderness of Jeruel. You need not fight in this battle, station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out to face them, for the Lord is with you.’ And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, worshiping the Lord.”

I’d like to interject an observation here.  The word of the Lord told them “The battle is not yours but God’s.” This was not telling them they didn’t need to show up and they could just stay home. The Lord told them “Tomorrow, go down against them.” The battle wasn’t theirs to fight, but they still needed to show up and do their part. Now listen to what the battle plan was… a completely “this makes no sense at all” kind of plan.

(vs 20-24) “And they rose early in the morning and went out to the wilderness of Tekoa; and when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, ‘Listen to me, O Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, put your trust in the Lord your God and you will be established. Put your trust in His prophets and succeed.’ And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who sang to the Lord and those who praised Him in holy attire, as they went out before the army and said, ‘Give thanks to the Lord, for His lovingkindness is everlasting.’”

“And when they began singing and praising, the Lord set ambushes against the sons of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir who had come against Judah; so they were routed. For the sons of Ammon and Moab rose up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir destroying them completely, and when they had finished with the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another. When Judah came to the lookout of the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude; and behold, they were corpses lying on the ground, and no one had escaped.”

(vs 29) “And the dread of God was on all the kingdoms of the lands when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel.”

I don’t know about you, but this excites me and stirs my faith big time! Israel didn’t have to lift a finger in battle. They sent out the worship team as their tactical strategy and God did the rest.

How does this speak to us in these times we are in today? For me, it tells me that in the ways the Lord leads me I must show up and obey. It’s a perfect example of God saying “My ways are not your way” and in my opinion, Jehoshaphat’s example of seeking the Lord in his fearful time is exactly what we should be doing today. God had a plan for victory for them, but if they had not sought Him to find out what that plan was, they may have been defeated. It’s no different for us today.

Many people are fearful in the times we are living and see no hope for a good outcome. I believe God is allowing this season to be extended because He wants to wake people up, especially the church.  We were complacent.  We were busy entertaining ourselves. We weren’t busy with the work of the kingdom. We weren’t resisting the forces of darkness.

I want to throw out another challenging thought. Much of the church has been focused on winning souls to the Lord and I’m not saying we shouldn’t be doing that, but I also believe that there’s a bigger picture than just soul winning. We are to also teach people who they are when they come into the kingdom and teach them to represent His kingdom well. We are to teach them to walk with dominion and authority over the powers of darkness. We are to believe that what Habakkuk 2:14 says is supposed to happen which is, “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.”

It’s my personal opinion that as much as satan HATES seeing people go to Heaven, it’s not his primary focus. If his only focus was to prevent souls from getting saved, he wouldn’t be promoting abortion so hot and heavy as each baby that doesn’t get a chance to live goes straight to Heaven for eternity. So, it’s more than just that.

I believe satan’s focus is to keep the glory of God from covering the earth…and it’s to keep believers from expecting heaven to manifest on the earth at this time. That’s what he hates the most and that’s what his focus is on. He’ll let millions of babies live eternity in Heaven as long as God’s glory does not cover the earth…as long as heaven isn’t manifested on this earth with signs and wonders. Pray about this and see if it bears witness with your spirit.

Keeping Christians from realizing who they are and what they’ve inherited is key in keeping people focused on something else besides the glory of God covering the earth.  I fully believe God’s glory IS going to cover the earth and the knowledge of His kingdom will be seen by all BEFORE Christ comes to get His bride.  Jesus is coming for a victorious bride not a fearful bride needing to be rescued.  If needing t0 be rescued is what happens, then satan wins and God had to rescue His people because satan was going to destroy them. That doesn’t sound like God wins…that sounds like satan wins.  I refuse that image; I reject that teaching.

Why do I believe we are to partner with God instead of just saying, “God’s will, will be done.” It’s because of verses like this one out of Psalms 115:16; “The heavens are the heavens of the Lord; but the earth He has given to the sons of men.” Who does the earth belong to? Mankind. Who did God give dominion of the earth to? Well according to Genesis 1:28 it says that God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

So back to my main point.  We all have a part to play in partnering with God at this time.  He does have a plan and it includes us.  Each of us may have a different roll to play so I can’t even pretend to know what you are supposed to do.  I am responsible for myself before God. But what I do know is as we ALL do the small things, the seemingly insignificant things He asks us to do, daily, it will all come together. His ways are not our ways.  His tactical maneuvers make no sense to our rational minds but in the kingdom of Heaven it’s a different story.

Let me give you a recent example to make this point. Kevin Zadai was doing a conference in Georgia a while back.  While he was there, he felt the prompting to take a group of people to the Georgia Guidestones and pray what He told them to pray. So, on one of the afternoons they went. While there, the Lord told them to not renounce or rebuke anything about that satanic structure but to make covenant with the Lord there and take communion, reclaiming that land to the Lord.  The Lord even instructed them not to touch it but to just stand there, pray and take communion together. I believe they even poured a little of the wine on the ground.

Just about a month ago, a lightning bolt came from heaven during the middle of the night and struck the Georgia Guidestones and part of it fell to the ground. By noon of that day a crew came and completely removed it, leaving nothing behind.  They had taken it down before anyone could even investigate to see what had happened.  The Guidestones were part of an evil agenda against our land and the people, it was like the 10 commandments God gave His people, except it was a nefarious agenda of darkness. The first statement on the Guidestones said they wanted to see the population of the globe reduced to 500 million. That’s about 90% of the population destroyed.  It is now removed, completely.

This is right after the lightning bolt struck it, before they removed it. This structure was a favorite occult visitation place. It was their commandments from the dark side.

As far as I know, this wasn’t covered on the nightly news. And if you were anything like me, up until about a year ago I didn’t even know it existed, but it had been in existence since 1980.

This is just one example of a Godly man (like any of us) obeying the prompting of the Lord and months later seeing fruit from his obedience.

I have been led lately to travel different places and pray or take communion as led by the Lord. I have made a journal of my obedience and I know I will be able to look back and see changes come from those things. As we all do our part, change will come. As we all obey His promptings, we will see the atmosphere around us come into alignment with God’s heart and that is for the knowledge of the glory of the Lord to cover the earth. Nothing is too small or insignificant for God to use. As He directs and we obey, change WILL come. His glory WILL be revealed!

Like Jesus taught the disciples in Matthew 6:10; “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” Do we have faith to believe we can see heaven manifested on this earth during our lifetime? I sure do!

Psalms 145:10-12; “All Thy works shall give thanks to Thee, O Lord, and Thy godly ones shall bless Thee. They shall speak of the glory of Thy kingdom, and talk of Thy power; to make known to the sons of men Thy mighty acts, and the glory of the majesty of Thy kingdom.”

And so, I pray and believe like David in Psalms 72:18-19; “Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who alone works wonders. And blessed be His glorious name forever, and may the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and Amen.