The Walls of Jericho.
A couple of weeks ago a teammate of mine made a passing comment about my name and its biblical connotations. There was no real meaning behind this conversation, it was just a small moment within a break in play and at the time it didn’t mean anything to me other than someone trying to encourage me in an aspect of me that they knew about in my faith.
But then over the last few weeks it’s started to resonate more and more with me as I was stepping out into unknown territory starting my gap year. And the hard truth I began to realize that settling was going to be a process, not a finger click but it was going to take going through the motions for a period of time to begin to feel that I belonged where God placed me. Our struggles, our difficulties, and situations that we come to face aren’t always going to be smooth sailing, they’re not always going to be an instant fix, some might be a long steady journey, others might be an up and down rollercoaster.
We all have our own Jericho in our lives, in Joshua, they had to walk round the city a total of 13 times across a week, and at many points I’m sure he and his team wanted to stop, probably thinking ‘Is this all worth it, why don’t I just give up’. It’s a valid emotion. The combination of the distance, the heat, the abuse hurled at them from those within the walls. This journey for them was a massive physical endurance test amongst other things. Jamie wrote last week about strength and how we should be asking ourselves the tough questions about our faith. Sometimes the tough questions are the ones about our journey. Making ourselves take a stop and check on what we are doing, where God could be guiding us and the trajectory of the path we’re walking on. When you have a goal it’s great, but so often do we get tunnel vision on the potential end goal, and we miss the blessings that God has for us in the present.
There’s such a brilliant parallel between this journey that we face and the race that is described within Hebrews 12.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
Jesus had to go through the pain that he endured on the cross on his journey, and even there he was sharing the love that God has for those persecuting him. Within his journey he was focusing on that moment there, he knew his destination but didn’t focus on that in that moment. Focussing on those ‘now’ moments where we’re struggling with our own Jericho, provides us with those steppingstones that helps us see a way forward. It helps us step forward along the path that God has planned for our lives.
Prayer points this week:
-That God will provide clarity on the path he is guiding us along.
-That God will help us not to grow weary in the journey we are on.
-That we will step back and enjoy the moments we come face to face with.
Written by Josh Bennett, Intern for Swindon Youth for Christ