This past week was a sweet one. It was filled with building doors from scratch. It was also filled with the Father speaking in soft whispers.
Let’s start with what the Lord spoke into.
On Thursday, I was reading through the story of Jericho (Joshua 5-6). I’m not going to recount the entire story, but a few things stood out that I had never really paid attention to before.
Let’s jump to the end of Joshua 5. Joshua is waiting outside of this city… a city that is completely impossible to conquer… the walls were so thick that they would literally have chariot races on top of them.
While waiting, Joshua sees a man with his sword drawn. Joshua asks him if he is for Israel or against them. The man responds and says that he is the commander of the army of the Lord who has come for right now. Joshua falls on his face and worships.
But did you catch that?
Jesus’ agenda isn’t for you, me, or the enemy. It’s the agenda of the Father alone. There is a very real chance that Jesus stands opposed to my strategy and decision making. The question isn’t if He is on my side… the question is: Am I on His side? Do I truly submit to His will being done? And do I do so with a worshipful heart?
Joshua was clearly called and anointed for this moment. He was one of the two faithful spies that actually lived through the wandering of the desert. He was one of the only 2 people who got to escape Egypt and experience the promised land.
Yet, Jesus says, “I’m not on your side. I’m here because the Lord has a plan.” And Joshua responds with worship. This is further demonstrated in the order they walked around the city. Armed men, priests leading worship with trumpets, the ark of the covenant, and then the rear guard.
The piece of practical advice is this: if it looks impossible, worship! Worship creates an atmosphere that makes it easier to fix our eyes on the Father. Elisha demonstrated this in 2 Kings 3 when he called a harpist.
The Lord then tells Joshua the plan for this battle. They are supposed to walk around the city one time each day, for 6 days straight. Then on the 7th day, they are to walk around the city 7 times, shout, and the walls will fall.
But then something interesting happens. Joshua goes back to his men and reports this. However, Joshua adds a command that the Lord never spoke. Joshua tells the men that they can’t talk, at all, until they shout on the 7th day. But God never said that!
Here is the thing… Joshua knew his men. He knew that doubt would creep in over the 7 days. I mean, it wasn’t like they saw any gradual progress or confirmation. They walked for 6 days straight with absolutely nothing happening.
Joshua knew that if they talked, the doubt would lead to grumbling, entitlement, bitterness, and eventually rebellion. He knew that it was inevitable that they would lessen their obedience to give more energy towards their grumbling.
Joshua added this command in so much love, wisdom, and protection. He knew silence was necessary for his men to see this through. It is what they needed to refuse to give up. Otherwise, their grumbling would’ve have caused them to stop waking in obedience… they never would have seen day 7.
So day 7 comes, and the wall falls. Side note: archaeologists found pieces of the wall, the size of buses, 20 feet underground. They also found that the wall went outwards, not inwards. It has been described that the destruction of the wall resembles what would happen if a great weight fell on top of the wall. The shouts of the Israelites didn’t knock the walls in. The weight of the Lord’s presence was so heavy that the walls collapsed.
And this victory didn’t come because of Joshua’s might, tenacity, or great strategy. This victory made absolutely no sense whatsoever. This victory came from one thing: obedience.
It reminds me of this beautiful scene in the Hobbit. There is this terrifying dragon named Smaug. He is obliterating a city with his fire. While everyone in the city runs for their life, there is one father and son who stay. This father has the one thing that can kill the dragon… a steel tipped arrow. And this arrow has to hit one tiny spot where the dragon is missing his scales.
It is a frantic scene of the father and son climbing through chaos and fire. They reach a platform where they have an angle on the dragon. The dragon starts bearing down on them. The problem is that in the chaos of climbing, the father broke the part of his bow that steadies and aims the arrow.
As the dragon gets closer and closer, he starts threatening the son. He starts proclaiming that he will burn the son alive and devour him in front of the father.
As this is happening, the father grabs his son, places him in front of the dragon, and starts to use his shoulder to stabilize and aim the arrow. But as the son hears these accusations, he starts to turn around to face the dragon. The father grabs his son and says, “No, you look at me.” The father pulls the arrow back, lets the arrow go, and kills the dragon.
You see, that’s us! We are the son in this scene. How often do we want to turn around and face the dragon bearing down on us? How often do we feel like we have to slay the enemy that’s in front of us? But the truth is that we can’t. Our role is to lock eyes with the Father, rather than the dragon that is competing for our attention. Our job is to trust Him to deal with the dragon. Our job is simple obedience to His voice. His job is to bring victory. And then we get to walk freely into the plunders of His victory!
And this isn’t a one time thing. The promise of following Jesus isn’t that life gets easier. It is quite the opposite. Jericho was the first of countless battles the Israelites had to fight.
But the beauty is that we have the assurance that we will never ever have to stare down a dragon alone. We will forever have a Father with us, and He will forever have the arrow that can take the dragon down… in every single battle. The famous command to Joshua in chapter 1 was this: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not fear; do not be discouraged. For the Lord your God will be with you, wherever you may go.” The promise isn’t that it is easy. The promise is that we never walk alone.
The question for us is are we willing to lock eyes with Him, and trust His positioning and timing?
And please know I don’t share this from the other side. Honestly, I’m wrestling a lot with what it looks like to choose to walk in silent obedience. I have often been seen as a man who has lots of wisdom, knowledge, and discernment. I wrestle with knowing when to share and when to be silent. I wrestle with when to offer a solution and when to just listen.
I can also wrestle to choose obedience without grumbling.
I’ve spent the first two weeks here in Guatemala doing almost all of our construction. I feel incredibly unqualified. The extent of my construction knowledge comes from watching my dad, having a logical mind, and working a few years at a church where I occasionally had to fix things.
Yet, I am the only one on the property who knows how to do this kind of work. I have found a lot of joy in getting to see practical fruit of my labor. I’ve been able to build and hang 2 doors. I’ve been able to teach our host, Juan, how to better hold things together. It’s been really beautiful.
But last night I absolutely fell into grumbling. A door that I didn’t build (it was already here when we got here) fell. It was our only bathroom door. It needed to be fixed immediately. I walked over only to find that the door was built really poorly. Not only was I going to have to fix it, I was going to have to completely undo everything that was originally done. It wasn’t anchored into the wall at all. It had been held just by nails going into cinderblock. I gave up my entire night (4 hours) to fix this thing. But while I chose obedience, I absolutely had a grumbling spirit while doing it.
So, I don’t say this as if I have it all figured out.
What does choosing joyful/worshipful obedience look like to you? What would it look like for you to believe that your role really is to simply lock eyes with the Father and watch Him take the dragon down? What would it take for you to really trust His timing and positioning in firing that arrow? What would it look like for you to stop asking if He is for you and start asking if you are for Him?
