God doesn't pick winners and losers, each of us make the decision whether or not we will align our will to His will, and in so doing determines whether or not we place ourselves in a position to be blessed.

We read in Joshua 5:13-14, "And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a Man stood opposite him with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, "Are You for us or for our adversaries?" So He said, "No, but as Commander of the army of the Lord I have now come." And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, "What does my Lord say to His servant?" This is a theophany or christophany, a physical manifestation of God in the Old Testament. We know that this is not an angel, since an angel would never allow worship to himself.

Notice the change, Joshua came asking Him the question of which side He was on, and He did not answer the question but turned it around on Joshua and essentially asked Joshua which side he was on. Jesus does the same thing to Nicodemus in John 3 when He teaches him what it means to be born again. Jesus did not answer Nicodemus' question, but instead redirected the entire conversation to the topic which he needed to know about. God's battle plan made no human sense. We see the wisdom in 6:10, "Now Joshua had commanded the people, saying, "You shall not shout or make any noise with your voice, nor shall a word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I say to you, 'Shout!'" Joshua knew there would be no shortage of complaining, murmuring and opinions on the part of the Israelites. After the stunning victory in Jericho, Joshua mistakenly approaches insignificant Ai in his own strength and gets humiliated. God warned the people beforehand in Deuteronomy 9 that when the land was given to them and the military victories would come that it would be by His hand and His will and to never forget this. Interestingly, we see the same mistake in opposite directions occur. In Numbers 13-14, the spies saw the giants in the land and chose to not trust God seeing their own weakness compared to their opponent. The result being 40 years of desert wanderings. Now after the stunning victory over Jericho they view Ai with overconfidence and in their own strength attack. The result was defeat.

To experience the blessed life that God desires for each of us, we must remember on a daily basis that it is up to us to choose to align our will to God's will. We must remember Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." But we must also remember what Jesus said in John 15:5, "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing." Paul goes so far as to state in Romans 7:18, as to say, "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells;...". Isaiah says in 55:8, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways." The walls of Jericho seemed insurmountable, just as many of our own issues in life seem insurmountable. Whether it’s addiction, financial woes, health issues, etc. we will all face these seemingly impossible opponents. The question is will we attempt to face these challenges in our own puny strength, or will we rely on the God who destroyed the walls of Jericho with a trumpet blast and shouting to do the seemingly impossible. Our part is not to understand His plan for our life, but to follow His plan as outlined according to His Word. His will for our lives is not most of the time, but always the best plan for our lives. But each day has its own battles, so we must face every day in His strength, according to His will.