At one point in our life, we were told to obey even when something does not make sense. As kids, our parents may have told us to obey them without explanation. In our minds, it did not make sense in the moment but we come to understand later why we had to obey. The same concept applies to our relationship with the Lord. Sometimes, we are to submit and obey even if it does not make sense. Today, we will discuss and reference the story of Joshua to help us understand this concept.
To give a backstory of Joshua before he reached Jericho, let us see what state Israel was in. When Moses died, Joshua became the new leader for Israel. He was instructed by the Lord to go over the Jordan to the land He will one day give to the people of Israel (Joshua 1:2). However, there was a hindrance, Jericho. Jericho was a city with a fortress that they had to go through to reach the Promised Land. For Joshua to get a better understanding, he sent spies to check out the city. While the spies were there, Rahab would hide them to avoid being discovered by the Canaanites in Jericho.
However, God had other plans to defeat Jericho (Joshua 6: 2-5). To summarize, the Israelites had to march around the city one time for six days and on the seventh day, they had to march around the city seven times. The priests were to sound the trumpets before the ark as the Israelites marched around Jericho for seven days. After the priests blew their trumpets on the seventh day, the people were to give a loud shout. When we look at this story, it does not make sense that marching around the city would bring victory, they did not even engage in combat! However, they followed God’s instructions and God showed up. The walls came down and the Israelites went in and conquered the city.
What if Joshua and the Israelites did not obey God? Would they still have gotten victory or even entered the Promised Land? God had a purpose for these instructions even if it did not make sense. Since they trusted and obeyed God, God destroyed the fortress and it was easier for them to go and conquer the city and spare Rahab and her family. In our life, how often do we obey God? God favors our obedience and trust in Him more than anything. It shows our true confidence and that we are willing to yield to Him no matter what.
1 Samuel 15:22 says “…Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat or rams.” God loves a heart that is obedient and willing to follow Him. So what happens when we are not obeying God? We drive further away from Him and we live to please ourselves instead of the Lord. If we insist on doing our way instead of the Lord’s, we delay the blessings the Lord has in store for us. What makes us a true disciple of Jesus is when we are willing to give up our ways and tell God “I will do whatever you tell me to do and I trust You.” The more we allow the Lord to have His Way, the more we see His work in our life.
How do we get to that point in our life where we obey Him no matter what? We start by building our faith in Him. As a Christian, we walk by faith and not by sight. We do not follow the Lord based on our emotions but rather, a trust that He has a plan for everything. The closer we are to Him, it becomes easier to trust Him because we know in our heart, God’s way is better than ours and we are willing to follow Him instead of trying to figure everything else out. We will then live a life of contentment and peace because we are following what God tells us to do. We will also hear His voice directing us in every detail of our life.
As stated previously, we live a life of faith instead of emotion. An act of faith is showing the Lord that we trust Him and we are surrendering our will to obey the Lord’s instead. Since Joshua and the Israelites obeyed the Lord, God showed up on their behalf and defeated the walls of Jericho. From the outside, it did not seem like the best approach to defeat Jericho but they obeyed God and God did His part. When God asks us to do something, He has a reason for it whether it is to show us something or to help someone. If you are at a point in your life where you have not obeyed God when He told you to do something, His grace is sufficient to forgive you. All you need to do is confess to Him and He is ready to forgive you and make you clean again from sin. So the next time God asks us to do something, let us have a heart that says “I will obey you because I trust in Your ways”. Once we do, we will see the Lord moving in our life and we will do great and mighty things for Him.
Thought for the week: Has God ever told you to do something that does not make any sense? If not, how can you prepare yourself to say yes when He does?