By the 6th day marching
around Jericho, I think I would have had my doubts about victory. My daunting
and uncertain future might have overwhelmed me in fear, unless I truly kept my
trust in God. Plus, couldn’t the delay give the people of Jericho more time to
plan for our attack??? God was in charge, though, and what He had planned would
work perfectly. The Israelites were called to follow His lead, His timing and His
instructions carefully.
Joshua 6:15-21, 24-25 On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the
city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the
city seven times. 16 The
seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua
commanded the army, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city! 17 The city and all that is in it are to be
devoted to the Lord. Only Rahab the
prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because
she hid the spies we sent. 18 But
keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your
own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of
Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it.19 All
the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to
the Lord and must go into his treasury.”
20 When the trumpets sounded, the army
shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud
shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took
the city. 21 They
devoted the city to the Lord and
destroyed with the sword every living thing in it—men and women, young and
old, cattle, sheep and donkeys…
24 Then they
burned the whole city and everything in it, but they put the silver and
gold and the articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the Lord’s house. 25 But
Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who
belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to
Jericho—and she lives among the Israelites to this day.
What a miraculous first
victory in the promised land! God delivered totally! The Israelites were to
act, but only after God moved first. They were also to act according to His
specific instructions in His time.
There are times I get
frustrated with God’s timing and His seeming delay (like the 3 times in an
eight-month period the parental rights termination hearing was postponed for
the birth parents of James and Sarah). God’s in control. He has a plan. He is
always right on time. Waiting can be daunting, but it’s a time for God to grow
our trust in Him.
Where are you and I still
waiting for direction, a victory, or an answer to prayer? Let’s prayerfully,
patiently, and expectantly trust His plan!
Alice
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