After wandering around in the desert for forty years watching their parents and grand parents die, the surviving Children of Israel came once again to the edge of the promised land. Now it was their turn to make the choice. Would they trust God and go in and take the land?
If ever a generation intentionally chose not to be like their parents, this one did. They decided to trust God and follow His instructions for taking Jericho – even though His plan seemed ridiculous. Marching around the city… blowing trumpets… shouting? But they obeyed. And as they followed Him without question, God gave them victory.
The Children of Israel were finally able to take the land that God had promised them once they chose to trust Him completely. To follow Him without question. Even when what He was asking them to do seemed really weird! But because they chose to obey – because they understood that God was God and they were not – with His help they were able to take first Jericho and then the promised land as their own.
Under the leadership of Joshua, God’s people finally gained what God had promised. Fortresses fell. Giants were killed. What was once thought impossible, was possible. Victory was won. God’s name was exalted and feared throughout the land. All that and more came from knowing and doing God’s Word.
This could be a good time for you to take a close look at your own life. Are you consistently choosing to do things God’s way? Or do you default to doing what seems right to you? When what you want to do and what God says to do are different, which path do you choose?
The next time you find yourself in the position to make that kind of choice, remember the lesson that the younger generation of the Children of Israel learned from their time wandering in the desert – God is God and I am not. Things will turn out much better when we trust Him and follow Him.
Psalm 125:1
Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever.