Conquering Your Jericho (part 3)

That last day had to be a tough one. In verse 10, Joshua told the people to not say a word until they heard the long trumpet blast. They had to walk seven times that day in silence. That would be impossible for me....I like to talk....a lot! But don't miss the lesson here. In this bizarre attack, it was important for the Israelites to be quiet and listen. When we are faced with our "jericho" and we are looking for God to lead us, we have to be still and recognize that He is God. To me that means I have to slow down, quit begging for Him to get me out of the situation and listen for what He is trying to tell me. Imagine if Joshua would have been so busy telling God his plan for overthrowing Jericho that he missed the promise of God.  Learning to be silent and have an attentive heart is a crucial element and strategy when it comes to facing down our wall.
I bet after so many days of marching, the Israelites were exhausted.  But they didn't take any shortcuts.  They were patient and stayed faithful to the plan.  In our own "jericho", we must not forget to wait on the Lord.  If you and I are going to stand, step and shout, we'll need God to do it.  We can't be found guilty of running ahead of Him or trying to do it ourselves.  It might take a while before the walls come down, or before we see the results.  Unfortunately in our instant messaging, microwave, on demand culture, we don't want to wait.  But our plan may be like the Israelites' plan.....it took more than one trip around the city to make the walls fall.  They were persistent.  We must do the same.  And the other thing I find interesting....is that they didn't doubt the plan.  If it had been me, I would have marched around the city four times and when I didn't get results I would've doubted if I had heard God correctly.  I probably would've revamped the plan in an attempt to sort of help God out.  Gee, I think I might have done this once or twice before! God is the same yesterday, today and forever.  He doesn't change and He is not the author of confusion.  Don't lose heart, don't let doubt eat away at your confidence.  Be like a postage stamp....stick to one thing till you get there.  If God has given you the plan, follow it.

This is a juicy story....lots of great little morsels to chew on.  More to come tomorrow as we conclude with a quick look at a physical strategy the Israelites used to lead them to victory.