With deep faith, Joshua prayed an outrageous prayer, asking God to hit the pause button on the sun and the moon so he could defeat his enemies. And God answered. The Bible says that the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day (v. 13b).

The lesson? God, who created time, is the Lord over it and can use his control over creation to bring glory to himself. God’s power over the passage of time reveals that he is in charge of every second and cares about every second he creates.

However, people are not always so aware of time. We either busily rush through our days or we sluggishly stumble through them, missing and even wasting divine moments given to us by God. You may be incredibly busy. But the truth is, you’ve been given an amazing opportunity—each day, each hour, each minute is a chance for you to engage with God. Right now, in this very instant, you can speak to him, listen to him, learn from him. He is with you in every one of the moments of your life. You just have to be aware of his presence.

Joshua 10: 12 – 14

On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel:

“Sun, stand still over Gibeon, and you, moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.”

So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar.

The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to a human being. Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel!

Content adapted from the NIV Quest Study Bible for Teens, which includes over 7,000 question and answer notes that clarify passages in the Bible.