When you play monopoly what is your strategy, you buying park place and board walk first? What about the game of Life, what strategy do you use to win? I am sure we all have differed strategies we think brings home the win. From our childhood to adulthood, we are taught strategy.
Joshua has just crossed the Jordan. The people of Israel have never been to war. They are fresh off adult circumcision and the first place they are commanded to go against is the strongest, Jericho. Not only that but instead of face-to-face battle they are told to just walk around Jericho one time a day without saying a word until the seventh day where they are to walk around seven times that day and then shout. The people in Jericho would only hear the blow of the ram’s horn for these days, no words from Israel at all.
“So the people shouted when the priests blew the trumpets. And it happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat. Then the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.” Joshua 6:20
Sometimes we are commanded to do things which don’t seem to make sense. We have been raised up in this world to strategize, even from a young age. I don’t want to overstate this but… there is never a time that strategy is better than obedience. I’m not saying don’t be strategic. I am saying to let the Lord be our first go to than our strategic plans. Listening and being obedient to the Lord brings spiritual fruit that far out ways anything the world and our strategies will ever bring. There could be some spiritual walls of Jericho in your life today that need to fall flat. Are you making your own plans to defeat those things or going to the Lord and saying yes… even if it seems different or even illogical? Again, sometimes it is strategy but let’s be people who desire heavenly obedience more than our own strategies.
- To Know Jesus. To Live on Mission.