Reading Joshua 11 what I noticed was that Joshua did all Moses commanded him. It says specifically, “As the Lord had commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did. He left nothing undone of all that the Lord had commanded Moses.” God commanded Moses. Moses commanded Joshua. Joshua carried out the commands.

Moses is no longer with Joshua. Joshua had been with Moses, even up on the mountain. I wonder how much he got to see and know God directly like Moses did. Surely, though, Joshua knew that Moses sought the Lord and heard His voice and was obedient to God’s commands.

In the New Testament we’re told to obey our leaders (Heb. 13:17). We know the Scripture that we’re to obey God over man, but that really only applies when we’re being told to do something opposing God’s words. We’re even told to obey our government leaders (Rom. 13:1); they certainly aren’t expected to be seeking God. Wives are told to submit to our husbands, not to obey only when we know they are seeking and obeying God’s directives.

I struggle with this lesson because I want to follow God, not man. I want to listen to His voice and follow it. I don’t want anyone getting in the way.

But what’s the real issue? Honestly, it comes down to not trusting God. If I know the right thing to do and my husband isn’t on board, then I have to trust God to bring him in line with God’s will.

If I believe it truly is His will, then I can trust Him to bring it about. He doesn’t have to go through my line of reasoning for how and when it should come about. I don’t need to hint and persuade and push and pout until my husband comes on board.

In missions, I know the struggle of having leaders who seem to be playing God with your life, directing movements and decisions.  We had a missions team that didn’t trust each other. They didn’t trust us, which made it hard to trust them. But really, we weren’t trusting the Lord, who can even turn the hearts and minds of pagan kings (Proverbs 21:1, Ezra 1:1).

Lord, help us trust Your miracles at work through people too. Help us submit to our leaders as unto you. Help us humble ourselves before others as unto You.