Instructions- What a relief!
Joshua 6
6 Now the gates of Jericho were securely barred because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.
2 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. 3 March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. 4 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. 5 When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.”
Let’s face it; we all have those obstacles in life that are much bigger than we bargained for. It was exciting at first because we could envision the outcome, but as we begin to realize the magnitude of it, we quickly become overwhelmed. It’s very evident that the process is quite draining if we try to make it work on our own.
I remember eyeing this giant shelf at Ikea one day and I really wanted it in my apartment. My dad wanted me to have it too, so he bought it for me. It was a good day! I could just picture it in my place. I knew just where I wanted to put it. It was going to be amazing and it would make life a more beautiful and full place… well my living room anyways.
The shelf came in a long box, which made the ride pretty interesting in my Kia Sorrento. It stuck out the back window and rested between the front driver and passenger seats. (It also changed the radio station every time I hit the brakes) As soon as I got home, I opened it up to find about 1,000,000 pieces that I was supposed to put together. As I spread them out on my living room floor, my vision of the beauty it would bring was completely overshadowed by the avalanche of screws, wood, and foreign parts that I have no words to describe. How in the world was this mess going to turn into the shelf pictured on the box? How was I supposed to manage this mess?
Finally I decided to take a deep breath, open the instructions, and to follow one step at a time. To my surprise, each step was pretty simple. Then slowly I began to see the shelf take shape. It’s now all put together and it’s even more beautiful because I understand the process.
Sometimes situations in our life can be like this. It’s exciting at first and we know it’s going to be amazing, yet when we see all the pieces it quickly becomes overwhelming. The good news is this, God has instructions and His purpose is not to overwhelm us, but to guide us through with His words and direction.
When God brings us to a place of promise like the Israelites at Jericho, He never intends for us to be overwhelmed. He instead desires for us to simply follow His instructions. As we look at His plan of action, it’s not exhausting. In fact, it was quite simple. March around 1 time for 6 days and then 7 times the 7thday. Blow the horns and shout!
When we need a huge miracle, we tend to think we’ve got to do SO MUCH to receive it. Then the faith shifts to us rather than God.
If you seem locked out of your promise today, know this… Where there’s a place God’s called you to fight, it’s also a place God’s given you victory!Through His word and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, listen and simply follow! What He asks you to do may seem strange and countercultural. It may go against everything world tells us will work. But the word says in Isaiah 55:8-9
8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
His ways are different, but His ways are always better. When we find His instructions, it’s such a relief knowing that we don’t have to figure it out on our own!
Take hold of instruction; do not let go. Guard her, for she is your life. – Proverbs 4:13
Take my instruction and not silver, and knowledge rather than choicest gold. – Proverbs 8:10
He is on the path of life who heeds instruction, But he who ignores reproof goes astray. – Proverbs 10:17
“He didn’t bring us this far to leave us. He didn’t teach us to swim to let us drown. He didn’t build His home in us to move away. He didn’t lift us up to let us down.”