Treadmill
Joshua had a plan.
God had another plan.
At first glance Joshua’s plan was logical. Find Jericho’s weak spot and use that intelligence to start the attack.
At first glance, God’s plan defied logic. (…and that’s putting it nicely).
March around the same wall over and over and over again; be silent as you do it and on the 7th day after the 7th round, give a shout!
By my count the Israelites went around Jericho a cumulative 13 times before there was anything close to a sign of victory.
Let’s put that in today’s lingo.
You’ve been hunting for that dream job or the dream spouse, or the rainbow child with no success. Jericho for you looks like resume after resume submitted, date after date with no success, doctor’s appointment after doctor’s appointment with no end in sight.
Jericho is a lot of things
Fun isn’t one of them.
Maybe you’re doing a lap right now. Maybe it’s a 13-month lap or a 13-year lap or maybe even more as you wonder where God is as you go around impenetrable walls again and again and again.
Turns out God was there all of this time. The spies did get some information, but the moment Joshua knew God’s plan , he ditched his plan and went for the plan that was divine, even though on the face of all things reasonable, it didn’t appear to be.
God’s plan was a plan that required more waiting.
Bear in mind that the previous generation had died in the wilderness waiting on God to open up the promised land. God’s plan required no murmuring. Unlike the generation before them, silence was actually part of the strategy and being silent meant they had to shut down their natural instinctive reaction to ask questions and to complain.
The beauty of Jericho is how things ended. They didn’t just keep on marching in perpetuity. They got to a place where God suddenly brought down the walls; refuting the idea that God wasn’t in their midst.
I know well the pain of banging on a door over and over and over again with no response.
I know what it’s like to wonder where the one you call your God is?
I’m familiar with wanting to give up because hope took the last bus out of town and all you have now is a hand full of gravel.
There was a lot of nothing going on until God caused something to happen
That something was the conquest of Jericho along with it’s impenetrable walls
God is a lot of things but he’s not one to change.
Maybe you’re tired of going round the same mountain.
Maybe the fact that nothing has happened or is happening makes you believe God has forgotten about you.
God knew that Jericho would be a conquered nation. It would be conquered by Israel.
God knows just how your story will end
Even if you’re in the middle of a whole lot of nothing, he’s still does exceedingly and abundantly and you’ll come to the place where he makes your heart come alive because he’s taken things over and is bringing the walls surrounding you down