Perhaps it’s only human to think in terms of mine or yours, us vs. them, or the like. We like knowing whose team we’re on and whose way we’re to follow. But we’re often too simplistic in our considerations. And from a spiritual perspective, God’s position is the only one that really matters.
This was a lesson Joshua learned when he found himself facing the Commander of God’s army. Joshua naturally wanted to know whose side he was on, but the answer he received was unexpected – “Neither.” In short, there’s a more important reality than the dividing lines we tend to draw.
To be sure, this can be seen in marriage. Do we demand things to be done our way, or do we make our wife happy by passively submitting to her way? Neither! Our duty and responsibility is to follow God’s way. Of course, we each have our preferences and part of marriage is a willingness to make meaningful sacrifices for each other. But while these sacrifices might lovingly serve our wife, her happiness doesn’t set the standard for our marriage. Likewise, our desires are not the determining factor for the marriage either.
Our first priority is aligning our marriage with God’s Spirit, desires, and plans. What we want is secondary to his will for us, and our marriage. Of course, there’s a lot of freedom and our personal preferences, happiness, and expectations will flavor much of married life. All the same, we must ensure we’re on God’s side for our marriage and not our own or even our wife’s.
And this is true with social, political, and religious divides as well.
In the end, while it’s natural to pick sides in all our human endeavors, it’s more important to stand with God. All our personal divisions become irrelevant in light of God’s reality.
