God is not on our side (it's better than that).

In reading the account of the fall of Jericho, I was struck by a portion of the story that I had never noticed before. We usually start reading when Israel is marching around the wall and we assume that God was on THEIR side because the wall fell down. If we read the passage before the marching and falling, we see Joshua meeting a soldier. Joshua asks the soldier, 'are you on our side, or are you on the side of our enemy?'. The soldier's (who was an angel) response is so interesting. He says 'neither, I am on God's side'. God is not on our side. We are on His. This may seem like silly semantics, but I think the difference is critical. If we have the mindset that God is on OUR side, that means that we are the ones with the plan. We are the one calling the shots. We are the ones that must always have things go our way. He wants us on His side. His plans are much better than ours. Confusing sometimes, but always much better.