Jericho

Then the Lord said to Joshua, "See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men.  March around the city once with all the armed men.  Do this for six days.  Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams' horns in front of the ark.  On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets.  When you hear them sound long blast on the trumpets, have all the people give a loud shout, then the wall of the city will collapse and the people will go up, every many straight in."  Joshua 6:2-5

For those of us who grew up in church, this is a well-known and well-loved story.  As children we probably watched a Sunday school teacher reenact the tale on a flannel board (if you don't know what a flannel board is, then you are much younger than me).  :)  Maybe we acted it out once or twice.  Last year Jonas and I made the walls of Jericho out of blocks and marched his little toy men around it.  It's a familiar story.

It's tempting to skip quickly through the text when it's that familiar, thinking we already know it.   But sometimes we pause and really imagine these people as real people, and Jericho as a real place.

Who stands before a 25-foot high, 20-foot thick wall and believes they can bring it down merely by walking and shouting and blowing on a trumpet?

As I look back at my life, I see that there were many times that I stood at a crossroads facing a choice: Believe God is real and trust Him, or believe in myself and trust me.  One of the hardest and most significant was when facing a miscarriage at 12 weeks pregnant.  Sophia was about one and a half, and I had planned and figured out and decided that I would love to have my babies two years apart.  And that's exactly what happened.  Sophia's birthday is in April; this baby's due date was April 1st.  Perfect.  But at 9 weeks, I started bleeding.  And at 12 weeks I found out the baby had died.  Along with all my dreams and hopes and plans for that little addition to our family.  It was a devastating loss for me.  I retreated from life and friends, holed myself up, couldn't bear to go out and face a world that was happy and moving forward with their lives.  My life had stopped; couldn't they see that?  

At some point in my mourning, I realized I had to make a choice:  Believe God is real and trust Him, or believe in myself and trust me.  

How could I trust a God that took something so precious from me?  I had prayed and prayed over this baby.  I had asked for healing.  I had done all the right things.  

But at the same time, I had done all the right things; and I still had no control over the outcome.  

"Could I trust God and believe He is working out something good even from things that seem no good?"

--Lysa Terkheurst, Unglued

Life is hard.  Life is confusing. It's full of loss and heartache and pain and suffering.  There are more questions than answers.  But God told us that.  He admitted there would be pain.  But His pain comes with a promise.

"In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, for I have overcome the world."  John 16:33

If we can believe that God will bring beauty from our pain, it's that much easier to loosen our grip and go all in to trust Him.  In the midst of it, that is such a hard thing to do.  But He doesn't ask us to figure it all out, He just asks us to take His hand and trust Him and watch to see what He will do.

Joshua stood at a crossroads that day.  Believe and trust or turn away and figure out His own plan.  I was thinking this morning about Joshua's past, where He had come from.  What He had seen.

--Joshua was born a slave in Egypt and lived in slavery for about 40 years.

--Joshua grew up hearing about the Promised Land and wishing for freedom.

--Joshua was an active participant in the exodus from Egypt and witnessed God perform miracle after miracle, enabling them to escape to freedom. (Exodus 6-11)

--Joshua walked on the dry ground of the Red Sea as the Egyptians attempted one last attempt at capturing the slaves they just freed.   (Exodus 14:21-30)

--Joshua was Moses' close friend and confidante, and accompanied Moses partway up Mount Sinai, where Moses received the Ten Commandments. (Exodus 35:15-21)

--Joshua spent 40 years walking the desert looking for the Promised Land, and witnessed the pillar of smoke by day and cloud of fire at night, along with daily manna for their nourishment. (Exodus 13:21,22)

--Joshua received the promise of Canaan, the Promised Land, along with all the Israelites.  After rising to become the new leader, God told Joshua: "Moses my servant is dead.  Now then, you and all these people get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give them -- to the Israelites."  (Joshua 1:1,5)

--Joshua walked on dry ground (for the second time in his life) of the Jordan River. God stopped the flow of water at flood levels so that the Israelites could cross over to Canaan, where the city of Jericho stood. (Joshua 3:1-17) 

[ref: http://www.keyway.ca/htm2002/joshua2.htm]

And so here he stands, staring at the fortified city of Jericho, with the words of God echoing in his mind: "See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands...march around the city...blow a trumpet...give a shout...the wall will collapse."

After seeing God part rivers and send plagues and sprinkle bread from the sky -- could He believe that God would bring down a 25-foot wall?

After seeing what God had brought them through already, could He trust that He would carry them through this?

After hearing about the Promised Land for the past 40 years, could He even imagine God wouldn't be faithful to His promise?

 Would God really turn His back now? 

Would God really turn His back now, after I lost a baby?  Could I trust Him to bring good from a tragedy?  Could I look back on the things He had already brought me through and believe He would bring me through this? 

Yes. Yes. And Yes.

God is faithful to His promises.  He either is.  Or He's not.  We either trust Him or we trust ourselves.  There really is no middle ground.

"When the trumpets sounded, the people shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the people gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed."  Joshua 6:20

And Joshua led His people into the Promised Land.

God is faithful to His promises.  When I wake up in a panic and start worrying about all that could happen, all that could go wrong -- whether in Ethiopia or driving to preschool -- I have to remind myself of who God is.  God is faithful.  God can be trusted.  Even if. 

"As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you."  Joshua 1:5