relationships (Joshua 11:1-23) Conflict Coping Strategy

(Joshua 11:1-23) Then it came about, when Jabin king of Hazor heard about it, that he sent word to Jobab king of Madon, to the king of Shimron, to the king of Achshaph, 2 and to the kings who were of the north in the hill country, and in the Arabah—south of Chinneroth and in the lowland, and on the heights of Dor on the west— 3 to the Canaanite on the east and on the west, and the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, and the Jebusite in the hill country, and the Hivite at the foot of Hermon in the land of Mizpeh. 4 Then they came out, they and all their armies with them, as many people as the sand that is on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots. 5 So all of these kings gathered together, and came and encamped together at the waters of Merom, to fight against Israel.

6 Yet the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid because of them, for tomorrow at this time I am going to turn all of them over to Israel as good as dead; you shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire.” 7 So Joshua and all the people of war with him came upon them suddenly at the waters of Merom, and attacked them. 8 And the Lord handed them over to Israel, so that they defeated them, and pursued them as far as Great Sidon, and Misrephoth-maim, and the Valley of Mizpeh to the east; and they struck them until no survivor was left to them. 9 And Joshua did to them just as the Lord had told him; he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire.

10 Then Joshua turned back at that time and captured Hazor, and struck its king with the sword; for Hazor previously was the head of all these kingdoms. 11 They struck every person who was in it with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them; there was no one left who breathed. And he burned Hazor with fire. 12 Joshua captured all the cities of these kings, and all their kings; and he struck them with the edge of the sword and utterly destroyed them, just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded. 13 However, Israel did not burn any cities that stood on their mounds, except Hazor alone, which Joshua burned. 14 And all the spoils of these cities and the cattle, the sons of Israel took as their plunder; but they struck every person with the edge of the sword, until they had destroyed them. They left no one breathing. 15 Just as the Lord had commanded His servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did; he left nothing undone of all that the Lord had commanded Moses.

16 So Joshua took all that land: the hill country and all the Negev, all the land of Goshen, the lowland, the Arabah, the hill country of Israel and its lowland 17 from Mount Halak, that rises toward Seir, even as far as Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon at the foot of Mount Hermon. And he captured all their kings, and struck them and put them to death. 18 Joshua waged war a long time with all these kings. 19 There was not a city which made peace with the sons of Israel except the Hivites living in Gibeon; they took them all in battle. 20 For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts, to meet Israel in battle in order that he might utterly destroy them, that they might receive no mercy, but that he might destroy them, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

21 Then Joshua came at that time and eliminated the Anakim from the hill country, from Hebron, Debir, Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah and all the hill country of Israel. Joshua utterly destroyed them with their cities. 22 There were no Anakim left in the land of the sons of Israel; only in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod some remained. 23 So Joshua took the whole land, in accordance with everything that the Lord had spoken to Moses; and Joshua gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. So the land was at rest from war.

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

Joshua and the Israelites waged war for "a long time" (according to verse 18), unlike the quick battles described back in chapter ten, even though they were doing things God's way, and even though God was fighting for them the entire time.  

The Sovereign, all-knowing God has reasons why something needs to be accomplished quickly or take longer.  If we find ourselves in conflicts or struggles that seem to be taking a very long time, IF-AND-WHEN we are praying about it and giving it to the Lord to sort out, we can then confidently rest in Him, without any fear or worries!

There was a time in my life when I felt everything was coming at me at once, and I was so tired of dealing with everything.  It was then that I finally just "gave up" and "asked God do everything FOR me."  Well, this is what I should have done in the first place, but it took me a while to realize the brilliance in this!  

About a year later, I began to wonder, "I've been coasting along here so peacefully.  Even my interactions with people are going well.  When is something BAD going to happen???  Right???!!!  I couldn't possibly have it this good and easy all the time."  But then I started to think back to all the events that had happened that very year "of peace" and realized that I HAD gone through conflicts.  It's just that I had been trusting God to work things out for me.

Obviously, there have been many very big events since then that have come along to test me, and there will certainly be more in the future.  And I haven't managed all of them as I should have!  I'm not perfect, and I've still got a lot to learn!

Peace, complacency and forgetfulness can be our biggest enemies!  It's then that we are able to so very easily start taking God for granted, and slip into old ways of trying to do things in our own efforts and thinking.  Therefore, we need constant reminders that God does things so much better than we ever could.  Whether In the midst of conflict or in peace, as we strive to focus on the Lord and what He will do and can do in our lives as we ask Him for help and guidance in everything, we will experience rest and peace in the Lord, without fear or worry.