Jericho was a well-structured, walled city. Apparently, it was well protected by two layers of massive stone walls. The outer wall was about 6 feet thick and 20 feet high and the inner wall was about 12 feet thick and 30 feet high. Built in between the two walls was a guarded walkway. So, the city, in a sense, was impenetrable. The walls posed as two barriers, both a physical as well a psychological barrier, that the children of Israel needed to overcome if they ever hope to penetrate deeper into Canaan. Unless this formidable city was conquered, there was no way they could move deeper into Canaan. It stood between Israel and their promised land.
These two walls are like the deeply entrenched habits we all have that are preventing us from a deeper walk with God. To deal with one bad habit is already difficult enough, what more the many we often have to deal with. Dealing with a habit is tough. When we take the letter “h” from the word “habit” there is still “a bit.” When we take away the letter “a” from “a bit”, there is still the “bit.” When you take away the letter “b” from “bit” there is still the “it”. It is not only until we remove the “I” for the “it” that we come to the “t” or the cross of it. It is only through the cross that we overcome a habit. Each one of us probably needs to deal with more than one habit that will hinder our walk with God. They are the walls that can prevent us from experiencing a victorious walk.
What could be some of the habits in our life that are preventing us from experiencing an inner peace with God? It could be our unwillingness to let go of hurts we have allowed to turn into a bitter root. It could even be an issue of unforgiveness that has become a deep resentment. Our walls could be some attitudes that we have adopted and they are preventing us from have a joyful walk with God. It could even be some “idols” such as our wife, our sweetheart, a special friend, our career, our hobby, and etc that have become bigger than God in our eye. All these could have become strongholds in our lives and we can move no further with God. We need to honestly deal with them. These are just a few the walls of negativism that have become strongholds that need to be overcome. They are like the two walls of Jericho that Joshua needed to bring down.
In Joshua, we see that an absolute surrender and submission to God is the most critical step to experience an overcoming life. Joshua 6:1-5 tell us that there are two things we need to adopt if we are to experience unrivaled victory. Firstly, we need to have an unhindered trust in God. There is a need for absolute abandonment to the Lord. God told Joshua that He had already given Jericho with all her king and the valiant warriors to him. He could either trust what God had said wholeheartedly or doubt all or parts of His words. Like Joshua, if we are to deal with entrenched habits, we need to hear God’s word and then trust that He has the capability to see us through.
Secondly, we need to adopt God’s unusual plan. The goal of the unusual plan of God was to build absolute trust. Look at the instruction given to ensure victory over Jericho. Seven priests with seven trumpets were assigned to walk before the Ark. They would blow the trumpets with the people following quietly behind the ark. The whole entourage was to walk around the city, once a day for six days. On the seventh day, they must walk around the city seven times and at the end of the seventh time, they must all shout out loud. When that took place, God said, the walls would come crumbling down. Such a strategy defies logic and imagination. To overcome the city, military might would be required and not quiet marches. Yet this was God’s unusual plan for them. What God was doing was to develop an absolute trust in Him. The victory is found not so much in the plan but in the absolute trust. What God is asking from us is unconditional surrender. Can we like Joshua, trust God unyieldingly?
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