On occasion I have the privledge of writing the weekly blog spot for Every Thought Captive – a ministry of Park Cities Presbyterian Church in Dallas. A similar version of this post is what will be delivered to their readers today.
“Joshua fought the battle of Jericho,
Jericho, Jericho,
Joshua fought the battle of Jericho,
And the walls came tumbling down!”
I have been reminded of this old children’s Sunday school song since spending time in the book of Joshua. But in revisiting the scene of Joshua and his men circling the walled city of Jericho, I have noticed something I hadn’t before.
First, a quick recap of the story: At the Lord’s command Joshua and his men marched in silence around the fortified city of Jericho waiting for the Lord’s appointed time to overtake it. Finally on Day 7 with the sounding of the horns and shouting, as God had instructed them to do, the walls of the most powerful city in the region crumbled. Just as the Lord had promised.
Until this reading I had never inserted myself into the story and grasped the full significance. Not just about the walls coming down, but to ponder on the fact the people trusted Joshua – ultimately God – with a plan of attack that sounded insane!
These are the same people who grumbled incessantly throughout their time in the wilderness. When God led them out of Egypt, they complained, even though they had wanted to flee. When God provided manna to eat, they were irritated it was the same food day after day. When Moses went up on the mountain to meet with God, they grew rebelliously frustrated that he was gone for so long. But, now these same people who are ready to battle are told they must patiently and quietly walk around the city for seven days first. And they did.
That surprised me that they accepted this plan so easily! Wouldn’t you think based on their previous track record they would demand a new leader or devise their own better plan that seemed smarter, quicker or more efficient?
Isn’t that what we do?
We don’t like waiting on God. And, we certainly don’t think His plans for our lives are always best. So we grumble, doubt and try to take control, which actually leads us to spin even more out of control!
That is what makes the Israelites patiently walking and waiting without any hesitation or second-guessing God’s slow, strange plan amazing. It appears these once impatient, discontent group of complainers learned something through their time in the wilderness. (Even if what they learned was only temporarily mindfulness, as apparent in the next chapter of Joshua.)
But for this moment, having learned who God was through the wilderness enabled them to better trust Him. Instead of doubting His plan, trying to take things into their own hands or control the timing, they submitted to what God said was best. Therefore, the wilderness that God had allowed them to remain in served to shape and mold them, to show them more of who He is, and to prove His faithfulness and love!
What great hope this offers for our time in the wilderness. It’s not without purpose, even though like the Israelites, we hate it, don’t understand it and enduring through it is hard. But through the trials, we see more of His character and also learn to trust Him better.
I’m seeing this first-hand in our family. This past year was especially challenging for one of our children. It seemed as if the wilderness would never end. Many days felt like we were going in circles around the same struggles we thought had already been dealt with. And, at times we doubted God’s goodness and shook our hands at His plan.
But, He was working. Working on the heart of this child, and on ours, as He slowly revealed more about who He is for us and who we are in Him. Now we better see that as the conquering King, He was knocking down walls and defeating enemies all along. We can even assent to what He appointed was best. Not a wilderness we want to go through again, but one that gave life-changing perspective.
Sometimes it takes the wilderness to help us to see and to build our trust, just like the mighty men at Jericho. They had great faith but faith given to them by the One they had learned to see as their great Deliverer.
