Most stories begin the same way, but for the sake of this story I will just say that there was once a man named Joshua. Now Joshua had the enormous job of leading God’s people into the Promised Land. I’d like to point out that Joshua spent a lot of time in the presence of the Lord. Anywho, God told Joshua that He had given the city of Jericho into the hands of the Israelites. They had just arrived in the Promised Land & had a lot of work to do in order to fully come into the promises that God had for them. So God gives Joshua instructions on how to conquer this great city, He tells him to walk around the city once for six days & then on the seventh day to walk around it seven times & at the end of the seventh time they were all to blow trumpets & shout & the Lord would give the city into their hands. Joshua filled with godly wisdom told the Israelites to be silent as they walked around the city until he told them to open their mouths & shout. The Israelites got up & did just as God had said for six days & then on the seventh day they walked around the city seven times & once they were finished walking Joshua told them to “Shout, for the Lord has give you the city”. So the people raised their voices to God & the walls of this gigantic city came crashing outward & they took the city- coming into the promise that God had made for them.
** The full account is found in Joshua 6**
At the beginning I mentioned that the book had come to me “before I had surrendered my gifts & dreams to the Lord”. The reason I say this is that in my younger days my maturity level & understanding of God wasn’t in a place where I would have taken as much from the book as I am able to now. It took a lot of life to get to the point where I am able to yield myself to the Lord because He “is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us”. (Ephesians 3:20) As I continue to spend time in the presence of the Lord, He continues to bring refreshing & guidance. I truly believe that He caused me to rediscover this book at a time when I was fully capable of taking from it what He desires to show me.
Back to Joshua. God told him to walk around the city thirteen times & He would give them the city. Sometimes God’s leading doesn’t make sense to us, we just need to believe He loves us & has everything under control. At the end the Israelites lifted their voices to God in praise & the walls came crashing down!! God’s power inhabits our praise of Him. I don’t even begin to comprehend the enormity of this! God’s power inhabits our praise! When we lift our voices in praise to God walls come crashing down & His power is made manifest in our lives. When times are tough & we sing praises to our King the enemy no longer holds any power over the situation. We declare that God is all-powerful & has everything under control & we are able to enter into the promises He has for us.
Last week had its share of trials. I broke down at one point because it seemed like everything was going wrong & all I wanted to do was go take a seventy-two hour nap. I sat down on a sidewalk & just began to cry. While I was sitting there I heard the Holy Spirit tell me to sing. I should mention that it’s quite difficult to sing & cry at the same time, but I did it anyway. I opened my mouth & out came “How great is our God. How great is our God, & all will see how great, how great is our God”. I just kept singing & at some point the tears stopped & I was reminded of the truth that God has everything under control.
The power of God which inhabits our praise will tear down walls & heal wounds. My dream is to see Jesus Christ’s church all across the world raise our voices in praise to the Father & watch as He begins to restore people to Himself.
