"And ye shall....go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days ... and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times ... and the wall of the city shall fall down flat." Joshua 6:3-5
The story of the fall of Jericho through the power of God is a thrilling one, rich with lessons for all of us. The monotonous and apparently useless marching assignment given to Joshua made little sense, but the eye of faith was strong; therefore the Word of the Lord was conscientiously followed, and the miracle occurred. Success in the Christian life too demands that we keep marching faithfully ahead, even though at times we see no results and find little use in going on. Even when our pathway leads in tiring circles and the walls of difficulty keep standing despite our most earnest prayers and efforts, yet there is no room for standing still when God says: "Go ye!" The continuous, roundabout march of Joshua is a good example of the fact that God accomplishes His purposes in mysterious ways. Seldom does He lead in obvious paths those for whom He intends to perform the greatest miracle!
God is ever looking for men and women who will bravely do His bidding with unchanging trust in His good purpose and design. By such the deriding voices on the "Jericho wall of the world" will be disregarded. Trial will not discourage such individuals, nor lack of success daunt them.
Often before the walls of our difficulty God puts into our hands a trumpet when we think it should be a sword, and still more often He sends us on a long circuitous march when we think He should retain us for a direct assault; yet by faith He wants us to go on in the way that He has planned, trustingly saying, "One step enough for me!"
"Keep plodding on for God," one dear old pastor used to say, "and you may be certain that the walls of your Jericho will eventually fall when the dear Lord deems it is time for you to enter the Promised Land!"
"Bread For Each Day"
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