The Lord is My Banner!

The Lord is my banner! As Joshua prepared to cross the Jordan River he knew that he was terribly out numbered by the inhabitants of the Promised Land. His spies even reported that there were giants! The Israelites trembled but God was faithful. He chose Joshua, a man of great faith and courage to lead his people into the “Land of Milk and Honey.” When faced with doubters, Joshua told the people to do what they wanted “but as for he and his house they would trust and have faith in the Lord.” He knew that the Lord was his banner. He knew that the Lord would go before the people and defeat their enemies. The Lord was their banner!

We often face situations in life that are daunting and overwhelming, causing us to live in fear. We often stand at the rivers edge of this life and simply freeze, afraid to move forward. What if we fail? What if we are unworthy? What if we experience defeat? What if we drown in a river of despair? What if we fall flat on our faces? What if… The list goes on and on.

Like Joshua it is important for us to remember that the Lord is our banner. God goes before us and we are called to follow in faith. Yet faith doesn’t just happen. As James tells us “Faith without works is dead.” This doesn’t necessarily mean physical activity, but spiritual as well. To have faith we must go to God in prayer on a regular basis and cultivate a trusting relationship with God. Joshua had such a spiritual relationship with the Father. Where there was indecisiveness amongst the Hebrew people, Joshua was certain through prayer and faith that God would allow the Israelites to prevail against those they faced in the Promised Land. Joshua knew that God was his banner.

My question for us is simple: Is the Lord our banner? Do we trust him enough to allow God to go before us so that we might follow no matter what difficult odds we face in this life? “As for me and my house we will trust in the Lord.”