Before God Moves Us Forward, He Often Brings Us Lower

Joshua 5:13–15

I want to start this week with a thought that may not feel comfortable at first.

Sometimes God stops ready people.

Not rebellious people. Not careless people. Not people who are trying to run from Him. Ready people. People who have been walking with Him, obeying Him, listening to Him, and trying to follow where He leads.

That is what makes Joshua 5 so important to me. Joshua is not standing near Jericho because he has wandered away from God. He is there because God brought him there. He has followed. He has obeyed. He has carried responsibility. He has walked with God through things most of us can only imagine. And now he is near Jericho.

I want you to feel that with me for a moment. Jericho is not just a place on a map. It is the next thing. It is the wall in front of the promise. It is the place where everything God has said is about to meet everything that seems impossible. And if I am honest, that is usually where my mind goes first. I start thinking about the wall. The challenge. The next decision. The pressure. The thing that needs to happen. The thing I need to do.

Maybe you understand that too. When something is in front of you, especially when it feels connected to calling or obedience, it is hard not to focus on it. You start thinking about the plan. You wonder how God is going to work. You start asking what the next step should be. And I do not think that is always wrong. There are moments when we need wisdom. We need direction. We need courage. But Joshua 5 slows me down because before Joshua gets a battle plan, he gets stopped.

The Bible says, “When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked…” Joshua 5:13 ESV.

That phrase feels very human to me. He lifted up his eyes. He is looking ahead. He is looking toward Jericho. He is taking in the weight of what stands before him. I have done that so many times in my life. I have stood in front of things and wondered, “Lord, what now?” I have looked at seasons of ministry, family burdens, financial pressure, sickness, waiting, and decisions that felt too big for me. I have looked at doors I believed God was opening and still felt the weight of not knowing exactly what came next.

And in those moments, I usually want God to tell me what to do.

But sometimes God is not ready to talk to me about what is next because He is still dealing with how I am standing right now.

That is hard for me. I like movement. I like clarity. I like knowing where this is going. But God loves me too much to let movement become more important than surrender. He loves His people too much to let us rush toward what is ahead while something in us still needs to be brought lower before Him.

Joshua lifts his eyes and sees a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. That detail matters. Jericho is ahead of Joshua, but this man is before Joshua. Before Joshua can deal with what is ahead of him, he has to deal with the One standing before him.

Please hear me, because I think this is where many of us miss the deeper work of God. We get so focused on what God has put in front of us that we forget to ask how we are standing before Him. We get so focused on the assignment that we forget the Lord of the assignment. We get so focused on the next thing that we miss the holy presence of God in the current thing.

And that is dangerous. Not because the wall does not matter. It does. Jericho was real. Your Jericho may be real, too. The decision is real. The burden is real. The grief is real. The calling is real. The pressure is real. The family situation is real. The ministry’s weight is real. The thing in front of you may not be imaginary at all.

But the wall is not more important than your posture.

That is what I am trying to learn. And I do mean learn. I am not writing this like someone who has mastered it. I am writing this as a man who keeps having to be reminded that being called by God does not mean I get to move without being bowed before God.

Joshua was ready, but readiness still has to bow. Calling, experience, leadership, and even obedience must remain surrendered before the Lord. That is hard to admit because I know how easy it is to think that if I am trying to obey God, then surely the next thing is movement. But Joshua reminds me that even when God has brought me to the right place, He may still need to deal with how I am standing there.

The formed disciple never outgrows the need to bow.

There have been times when I was not trying to disobey God. I was trying to obey Him. I was trying to be faithful. I was trying to carry what He had placed in my hands. But somewhere in the carrying, my posture needed attention. My urgency needed to be surrendered. My assumptions needed to be corrected. My desire to know the next step needed to come back under trust. My need to be able to explain what God was doing needed to bow.

That is where this passage becomes deeply personal.

Joshua approaches the man and asks, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” Joshua 5:13 ESV. I understand the question. If I see a man with a sword near the battlefield, I want to know where he stands. Are you with us or against us? Are you here to help or hurt? Are you part of the answer or part of the threat?

But the answer Joshua receives is not what he expects.

“No.”

That word will be the center of Week Two, so I do not want to get too far ahead. But even here, we need to feel it. Not “I am for you.” Not “I am for them.” No. In other words, Joshua’s question was too small. He was asking the Lord to fit into his categories, and God refused.

That is mercy, even when it stings.

God was not against Joshua. He was not abandoning Joshua. He was not undoing the promise. He was correcting the posture. Then He says, “I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” Joshua 5:14 ESV.

There it is. Joshua thought the question was about sides. God revealed the issue was authority. That is what happens when the Holy God steps into the path of a formed disciple. He does not simply give information. He reorders the whole moment. He shows us that the deepest issue is not whether God will help us accomplish what lies before us. The deepest issue is whether we are under Him.

So Joshua falls.

“And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped…” Joshua 5:14 ESV.

That is the moment I cannot get away from. He falls. No arguing. No explaining. No reminding God of his calling. No rehearsing all he has already done. He falls on his face and worships.

Please do not make that too clean in your mind. That is not a polished religious gesture. That is a man brought low before the presence and authority of God. That is a leader no longer standing over the moment, but under the Commander. That is a warrior realizing that the first movement is not toward Jericho. It is downward.

And that feels so opposite of how we often think. We think strength means standing tall, but God teaches us that strength begins with surrender. We think readiness means moving forward, but God shows us that readiness begins with first bowing low. We can even think of maturity as being able to handle more, but the Lord keeps reminding us that maturity means knowing how deeply we need Him.

This is where formation becomes real. Formation does not make us less dependent on God. It makes us more aware that we cannot take one faithful step without Him. I know we say that. I know it sounds right. But I am talking about more than saying the words. I am talking about the part of us that still wants to control the outcome. The place in us that still wants God to give us the strategy while we keep our hands on the wheel. Do you know that place? Yes, it’s all too familiar… It’s the place in us that still wants to call it faith while secretly needing control.

That place has to bow.

Joshua’s question changes after he falls. He asks, “What does my lord say to his servant?” Joshua 5:14 ESV. Now that is different. He is no longer asking, “Are You on my side?” He is asking, “What do You say?” He is no longer trying to figure out where God fits in the battle. He is taking his place as a servant.

That is the kind of shift only surrender makes.

And I think that is the invitation for us this week. Not to rush into another lesson. Not to admire Joshua from a distance. Not to say, “That is a powerful passage,” and then keep moving. But to stop long enough to ask where God may be stopping us.

• Where have I assumed readiness means permission to move? 
• Where have I become so focused on Jericho that I have missed the Commander standing before me? 
• Where have I asked God for strategy when He is asking me for surrender? 
• Where have I wanted Him to clarify the next step while He is lovingly and intentionally correcting my posture?

That is not meant to shame you. It is meant to bring you near.

Because God’s interruptions are often mercy. I know they may not feel like mercy at first. They may feel frustrating. They may feel confusing. They may feel like delay. But if the interruption brings you lower before Him, it is not wasted.

James 4:10 says, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up” (NIV). That is Kingdom order. We do not (first) lift ourselves into usefulness. We must (first) bow before the One who forms us.

Proverbs 3:5–6 tells us to trust in the Lord with all our heart and not depend on our own understanding. I think we quote that verse because it comforts us, and it should. But it also confronts us. It tells me that my understanding is not enough, even when I feel ready. It tells me that acknowledging Him in all my ways is more than asking Him to bless my direction. It is bringing the whole way under Him.

That is where I want to begin this series. Not with a dramatic challenge. Just with an honest invitation.

Bring your Jericho before the Lord. Name what is in front of you. The wall. The burden. The decision. The calling. The fear. The responsibility. The place where you want answers.

But after you name it, look again.

Ask yourself if you have been more aware of the wall than the Commander. Ask the Lord to show you where you are standing tall when He is calling you lower. Ask Him to show you where you have mistaken readiness for surrender.

And then do what Joshua did.

Bow.

Not outwardly for show. Not religiously, so you can feel like you did the right thing. Bow honestly. Bow inwardly. Bow in the place where you have been trying to manage what only God can command.

Because before God moves the disciple forward, He often brings the disciple lower.

And lower before Him is not failure.

It may be the first real step toward holy ground.

DRJBD