I recently woke up one Friday morning with the story of the walls of Jericho in my head. After thinking about it off and on throughout the day, it felt like a message of encouragement and hope for me and also for ICEJ (at the time we were all immersed in pre-Feast planning and last-minute details).
The next day, on Shabbat, I went back and read the first chapters of Joshua and throughout the day, pictured these people silently walking around this huge, impenetrable city. Doing the same thing day after day with no visible changes. What must it have been like for them?
Day 2: Silently walking - again - around the outside of the city, only to finish the walk and go back to their tents for the night.
Day 3: Same silent walk, same big walls, same sandy path...nothing changed.
Days 4 & 5: More of the same.
Day 6: The sun came up, same as all five days before. They dressed for battle, just as before. Imagine doing the exact same thing you've done for the past five days - AND ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING IS STILL THE SAME! Same hot sand, same big walls...what would have been going through my mind on Day 6?
We have the advantage of hindsight, and know that when the Israelites finished that walk on Day 6, they were only 24 hours away from one of the most spectacular, miraculous military conquests in the Bible. But to them, it was just another day of "no change."
It's not like the walls started to shrink and got smaller the more they walked. The walls didn't crack, crumble or even shake. As they walked along in obedience, God was getting ready to do something absolutely amazing for them. They just couldn't see how close they were to victory.
The Lord has promised many things; He has spoken to me of restoration, healing, hope, love, belonging, family, and "making all things new." My daily path may feel at times just like Day 6 did for those Israelites. I don't see anything different, and may not know where the Lord's provision will come from, when it will arrive, or even what it will look like.
How many times have I given up on Day 6? How many missed blessings litter my path because I did not persevere just a little longer?!? God wants to do amazing things in and through the lives of His children - I believe that. So we persevere, seek His face, walk the path set before us - which can, quite frankly, be lonely and discouraging at times, and sometimes looks hopeless. How many times have we given up and quit right before the miracle came?
We serve a Creator God who is our GOOD, GOOD FATHER! His name is Faithful and True! His timing is not our timing but it IS ALWAYS perfect.
I have at times felt like I'm walking the same route for the millionth time - chasing my tail around an impenetrable fortress, just like I've done so many times in my life. It may look like nothing has changed, but I've changed. You've changed. He is changing and transforming us every day. He is making ALL THINGS NEW, whether I see every nuanced change or not.
So the question is: Will I trust Him? Will I get up every morning and silently walk around my Jericho? Whether it is the first day, the sixth day or the 160th? Do I trust that I am my beloved's and He is mine? Do I believe that every day of my life was written in His book before one of them came to be? Do I rely on his promises? That He is still fighting for me, helping me, holding my hand and will never, ever let me go?
Am I living out that same "believing" demonstrated by Abraham? That "Romans 4" faith, which God credited to him as righteousness? Abraham waited years - as his body got older, as Sarah's womb was "dead" - he still didn't waver. Regardless of what he SAW, he trusted that God was faithful and trustworthy, and would - in HIS perfect time - fulfill ALL He'd promised.
So I guess the application is this: Whatever we face in this life - disappointments, struggles, "dry times," mourning a loss, enduring a trial, facing a seemingly insurmountable task - if our eyes are on Jesus and he has led us there, do we trust that He is faithful and will also lead us THROUGH? That the miracle will come? That He will provide everything He has promised?
When my daughter, Megan, was here this summer, a friend took us out to the Judean desert where we could look out over the expanse and see, in the distance, the modern-day city of Jericho. I can personally attest to the fact that there are no big walls around the city. In fact, I couldn’t see much of anything impressive. The walls are gone. The miracle happened because God’s people persevered, and made it to Day 7!
God was Faithful and True then, and He is Faithful and True now. Whatever your circumstances, don’t give up! You just might be on Day 6, and victory is around the next corner!
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