S145P4 – Lessons from Joshua: insight into possession
Jos. 6:2-5
And the LORD said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valor. You shall march around the city, all the men of war going around the city once. Thus shall you do for six days. Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. And when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, when you hear the sound of the trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a great shout, and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people shall go up, everyone straight before him.”
The Lord prompts you in some way to make a move, and you start to ask questions. The first thing you likely ask is whether you genuinely have heard from the Lord. One of the next questions will be to wonder how it will turn out. Maybe you feel that God wants you to speak to a specific person about your faith, and you wonder whether you will be accepted or rejected. Maybe He has made a position available to you, but you wonder whether you can serve it well. These are the thoughts and questions of those who have yet to receive something in time. However, the Lord stands outside of time, and that is how He gives to us.
I used to read through this part of the story of Joshua and marvel at how strange and unexpected God’s instructions were. I was distracted by this spectacle of unorthodox warfare, and I missed a crucial point. God did not tell Joshua that He would give him Jericho. God told Joshua that it already had been given to him. Although the Israelites had to act in some manner in order to receive what the Lord prepared for them, it was already theirs. All the Israelites really were doing was accepting the victory. From the Father’s perspective, that city and all it contained already belonged to them to do with as the Lord instructed.
No one can know what the Lord has planned for those who love him. While we see those plans unveiled as they happen in time, God already has determined them to be. We should gain confidence from knowing that there is no maybe or perhaps with him. What He gives us is certainty. As certain as are all his truths, his gifts and blessings are just as sure. What He has destined for us will come to pass. What He desires that we possess will become ours. Every victory we are waiting to claim already has been ordained. Father, thank You that You have destined us for great things, and remind us that all You desire to give us already is ours.