Chaplain's Remarks
Afternoon PPN Families,
I've been reading Joshua recently, and been thinking about what happened with the walls of Jericho.
"Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel, none went out, and none came in. And the Lord said to Joshua: “See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor. You shall march around the city, all you men of war; you shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days. And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him.”” Joshua 6:1-5 NKJV
Don't you think God's instructions were a bit strange? You'd think after the 4th day you might question what you're doing, and if just walking would really help you capture an entire city.
But I think God wanted to see how far they would go in trusting Him. He was testing their faith.
There have been many times where I've felt God was testing my faith. Or, when I knew He was calling me to do something that I thought just would not work, which really was my problem, I was relying on my own power or ideas. Not that that's a bad thing, we sometimes forget to rely on Him.
In verse 2 I noticed something for the first time. God didn't say "...I might give you.." or "...I will give.." He had already given.
"And the Lord said to Joshua: “See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor."
As we march along (pun intended) in our own lives we find a few walls that are in our way. But God already has a plan. As He has show us time and time agan, all we need to do is trust that His plan will work, no matter how strange it might sound.
Many blessings,
Pr Andy.
