The Power of Agreement

Have you ever watched an army of soldiers? When one man steps all men must step. When one man fires all men must fire. When one man advances all men must advance. The concept these soldiers have grasped is the concept of unity and agreement.

The word of God says in Amos 3:3, “Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?” Amos was a prophet although he describes himself in 1:1 as a shepherd and farmer. This tells us he wasn’t a professional prophet who earned his living by providing kings with words they wanted to hear. He came instead as a prophet of the Most High God addressing primarily the northern kingdom. He was well aware of the political division that had caused a split in the nation, but also knew that the Israelites had something in common, their identity of God’s people.

In the body of Christ, today, we hear and speak Amos 3:3 often. We use it in conflicts between husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, parents and children, pastors and congregations. But what was the original intent of this scripture? What was the agreement Amos was speaking on?

“Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?” is just the first question in a series of seven that were asked. The Word of the Lord also asked, “Does a lion roar in the thicket when he has no prey? Does he growl in his den when he has caught nothing? Does a bird fall into a trap on the ground where no snare has been set? Does a trap spring up from the earth when there is nothing to catch? When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the people tremble? When disaster comes to a city, has not the Lord caused it?” At first glance with questions one through four, we say the answers all are a common, no. Yet, when we get to five and six, the answer is yes. So what is God asking us? What do all these things have in common? Well, the lion’s roar reveals he is about to attack that prey, his growl reveals he is protecting the catch that he then eats of, the snare reveals to the bird that indeed a trap has been set, and the trap that has spring up reveals there is something that it is trying to take captive. The common denominator is that all things were revealed. God is telling the Israelites, telling us, as he points out in question five and six, that when the trumpet sounds, when a city is taken by disaster, it reveals God’s judgment has come forth.

Why did God start this series of questioning with that one question, that question we so commonly ask, “How can two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?” Is it possible that the agreement He is pointing out, is the agreement that was made between His people and Himself? God’s intent is and always has been to walk with us, in agreement. He walked with Adam. Walked with him, side by side. They agreed and shared a common bond of unity in that agreement. When Adam fell, they could no longer walk together. The “agreement” they had made, the agreement to obey the Word, was broken by Adam. However, it has never been broken by God. He has been faithful to every Word that He has spoken.

In Amos, God comes to the people that He had come into agreement with once again. He established this unity between them through the circumcision. A people of His own, a people to walk according to the Word in total agreement with Him once again. His chosen ones. He begins to question them, and He begins with the most important question of all, “How can two walk together unless they agree to do so?”

God is calling us into agreement. This is the only place that true unity can exist. Yes, we are supposed to walk in agreement with other Christian, with our husbands, with our wives, with our church, our leaders, our brothers, and our sisters. But this agreement will only come when we first walk in agreement with God. His word is what establishes the truth in every situation. His word covers us, and keeps us. His word sustains us in our times of trouble. His word builds us, and yes, His word breaks us. And no matter what the Word is working out, no matter how joyous, or how painful it is, we must agree. He desires to walk with us once again. Side by Side. Hand in Hand. But we must agree.

When we walk together in agreement with God, then we can begin to walk in agreement with each other. When my husband and I have a conflict, I have to fight to get into agreement with him, not to fight to get my opinion heard. This place of agreement is such a place of victory. See, God has given each of us a care packages, mine may be in the form of my husband. Yours may be in the form of a friend, a sister, a brother, a mother, a child. Whatever the case, He has pulled from us some things we are going to need to reach this Kingdom mandate, and placed them into another. He has done this to teach us the power of agreement, and yes, the power of unity. He has caused us to need each other that we may learn to lay ourselves down for one another. Not always looking for what we will gain, but instead for what we can give.

Those soldiers I spoke on, how do they walk in such agreement? Act in such agreement? Live their lives in such agreement? Because they have made a covenant that they signed the day they enlisted. They don’t act or react from emotion. They don’t decide when they will get around to something, or even what they will do. Their days are established by the words in the covenant they signed. And because of this, they fulfill the duty that was set before them. Even if it cost them their lives.

I enlisted into an army years ago. The army of the Most High God, El Shaddai, the author and finisher of my faith, the Great I am. He is my commander. He has written His covenant across my heart, and I signed it with great joy. I wear the stripes to show the battles He has brought me through. I dress daily in His battle clothes girded in the truth of His word, His breastplate of righteousness covering my chest, His helmet of Salvation on my head, the shods of the preparation of the Peace of the Gospel on my feet, and I lift my shield of Faith and Sword of the Spirit, and I fight. I fight to stay in agreement with every Word He has spoken. I fight to stay in perfect peace in every situation I face. I fight. I fight to lay myself down and to help pick up another. I fight to shut my mouth and crucify my opinion. I fight.

I challenge each one of us reading and receiving this word to fight today. To search ourselves, not others, but ourselves, and ask God, “Are we in agreement on this area, or that area? Are You walking with me on this, or do I need to come back to where I left You and allow myself to once again agree with what Your Word says, so that we can continue hand in hand?”

I close with this; 2 Chronicles 7:14 “ If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” It is that simple. Humble ourselves. Line ourselves up with His Word, pray, seek Him, and turn from the wicked ways that have caused His earn to turn. Then our God says, He will hear us again, forgive us, and heal us. And only then will we never have to hear the question again, “How can two walk together unless they agree to do so?”. And in doing so, we have “revealed” to God that we agree.

Blessings and Favor,
Robyn