No man will be able to stand against you. The Lord your God, as he promised you, will put the terror and fear of you on the whole land, wherever you go. (NIV)

Have you ever heard the parable of the ant riding on the elephant’s shoulder? They came to a bridge and the elephant walked across. The bridge quaked and buckled, barely staying together under the lumbering weight. Once across, the ant exclaimed to the elephant, “Man, we sure rocked that bridge, didn’t we!”  

‍

The verse above reminds me of that parable. It gives a good representation of the dynamics between us and God when he calls us to do something. The Israelites were about to enter the Promised Land. “Enter” the promised land isn’t really the right word. They were about to invade the Promised Land, and they were not the team favored to win.  

‍

They were ants rushing into the battle, and they needed an elephant. God could have done it by himself, but he chose to work through the Israelites. Why would an omnipotent God choose to work through fallible people? God does nothing carelessly, so what was his heart behind his decision to work through his people?

First, it’s evident that God doesn’t want to just accomplish whatever it is that is set before us. Let’s be honest, if God wants something done right, he’s usually much better served just doing it himself. Instead of simply wanting something done, though, he wants to take the opportunity to also work on the heart of his people. When we are called to do something, God doesn’t just want a checklist of activities completed; he sees beyond that to the qualities that will be developed in us by doing those things. He wants to do good work, but the condition of our hearts and character matters deeply to him.  

‍

Second, what we do does matter. If I seem a bit blasé toward our abilities in light of God’s, don’t take it to mean that what we do doesn’t matter. God wants to work through us to accomplish his purposes. That gives us an enormous responsibility to be attuned to God, but more importantly, it shows that he wants a deep relationship with us. After all, how else are we supposed to know what he wants? If I put no effort into knowing God, how will I have any idea what he wants when I’m making decisions?  

‍

Third, if you read the previous and following verses from the one above, you’ll see that God invites us into an incredible adventure to help accomplish his vision. You’ll also see, however, that we have free will, and if we so decide, we can stray from our part in that plan. Time and again in this passage, God makes it clear that there will be blessings for those who obey the Lord and curses for those who don’t. God honors our free will by not interfering with our actions, but that means they can still have consequences. If we want to live an intentional life that is on mission, we must live with this dynamic in mind.  

‍

Ultimately, we all live on mission. We either live missionally for God or we live missionally for ourselves. Like the Israelites, God gives us the choice. Which will you choose

Father, I pray that you would give us a heart to live on mission for you alone. I pray that we would draw close to you so that we can know your will. Help us be willing to be obedient to your will, and like the ant in the parable, that we would get the opportunity to see you rock whatever bridge we cross with you. Amen.