“So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day. And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the LORD hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the LORD fought for Israel.” - Joshua 10:14

These verses contain an amazing, astronomical event! In an interview with Larry King back in 2019, Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson explained how we are all rotating east with the earth at extreme speeds (around 800 mph in N.Y. and around 1,000 mph at the equator). If the earth suddenly stopped, everything that was not nailed down to the surface would continue to move eastward at alarmingly fast speeds (Newton’s first law), and catastrophic events would occur around the world! To stop the earth from rotating would be disastrous; and yet, God somehow miraculously caused this event, preserved the children of Israel, and kept his promise of victory to Joshua.

We serve an omnipotent God! He is capable of performing miracles that scientists deem impossible and secular scholars believe to be a fanciful fairy tale because they are just that incomprehensibly awesome. Earlier in the chapter, He rained hailstones down on Israel’s enemies (killing more than the Israelites did in actual battle); and at Joshua’s request, kept the sun and moon from moving so that Israel might gain victory. He was on His people’s side, and nothing could stop them. God is extremely powerful!

These verses are encouraging to me because they show that God will go to great lengths to keep His promises. If it means He has to perform an astronomically impossible event, He will do whatever it takes! It also encourages me because it shows the sheer power of our Lord. He is capable of stopping the rotation of the earth and keeping everything in place on its surface. That is incredible!

When we look at the amount of money we have to raise in order to accomplish our goals, it seems daunting. However, we must remember that the same God who stopped the rotation of the earth is the same God we serve today. No feat is impossible for Him, and if He wants us to continue to grow and accomplish this building program, nothing will stop us. Take heart and know that we have an omnipotent God.