This is one of the more remarkable miracles in the Bible taken at face value. According to this passage, God “stopped the sun and moon” giving the Israelite army enough light to finish the battle against their enemies.
What does it mean that God made the sun stand still? Obviously it can’t be taken literally because the sun doesn’t move.
Taken at face value, God either slowed or completely stopped the rotation of the earth, and had to compensate for all the physics involved with that (which quite frankly is beyond my capacity to explain).
Other people have tried to explain it by saying God refracted the light somehow to allow the sun to remain visible for a longer period of time.
Whatever happened that day, the key point is found in verse 14.
The Lord listened to a man. Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel! (Joshua 10:14)
Sometimes we go through tough times in our lives.
Perhaps we’re struggling with a difficult boss or a difficult marriage or some other kind of difficult relationship.
Perhaps we’re struggling with sin in our lives. Or we’re struggling through depression or discouragement.
And sometimes we wonder as we go through these things if God really cares. If God is really working. But just as God listened to Joshua’s prayer and fought for Israel, he listens to our prayers and fights for us.
So whatever you’re going through right now, don’t get discouraged. Remember that the same God that heard Joshua and fought for Israel hears you and fights for you.
Moment to Moment (Bible blog) 