Shout at the wall

“When the trumpets sounded, the people shouted and at the sound of the trumpets, when the people gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed.” Joshua 6:20 NIV

In the book of Joshua we see God hand out a great victory. To receive it, God laid out some pretty specific instructions. The army of Joshua marched around the city once a day for six days. On the seventh day they marched around it seven times with priests blowing trumpets of rams horns. With a loud trumpet blast, the people were instructed to shout. At this, the walls fell.

I wonder what the people inside the city were thinking. They probably thought they had nothing to worry about. Or maybe they knew they were going to lose to an army not using recognizable weapons, just a bunch of people with ram horns and loud voices. And God. Why did God want them to follow Him so specifically? God could have just crushed the wall in one day. He could have knocked it down instantly. There seems to be a point in the element of time and obedience.

My wife and I know people who are facing some tough battles. Some of you are facing some tough battles. Cancer is a relentless opponent. So is alcohol and drugs, anxiety, depression, poverty and so many other things. Not all marriages are hanging by a thread, but some are. Unemployment. Employment. Peace. People we care about are imprisoned by a variety of walls. All of them have an element of time. Not many battles are over in an instant, although there are some.

Out working today, I approached a house and noticed a man working under his truck. Sometimes the last house of the day is just the last lead card I have. Sometimes it is the late hour of the day that puts an end to the effort. Sometimes it is the interaction. This was my last house pretty early in the conversation.

He told me about the time he spent that morning with chemotherapy running into his body. He told me about brain cancer. He told me about lung cancer. He told me about cancer in the other lung. Then he told me about his latest battle with a cancer that had attached itself to one of his ribs. He said, “How in the heck did it get stuck there?” In his life he had dealt with four different battles with four different cancers.

As he sat there talking to me, he wondered aloud how he was going to stand up. I picked him up with one hand. He weighed nothing. When he stood up he started patting me on the shoulders and back like I had done something. We ended the day sitting on his porch visiting. He offered me coffee, cigarettes and food (I don’t smoke and yes he smoked in spite of two battles with lung cancer. He knew it didn’t make sense). He also told me he had decided he should fight the latest cancer, but if it happened again, it was “Hospice hotel” (his words). I told him he was the most pleasant person I had seen this week and it was a good week. I told him I was proud of him for that. Not all people maintain the level of peace he clearly has.

What is the difference in people who can walk through a battle in peace compared to those tormented by the fight?

What fight are you in? Do you have peace in spite of it? If you need help with that contact someone you know or trust. If you do not know anyone, contact me: rickclaiborn@gmail.com maybe I can help or help you find someone who can.

Challenge: I think we have come to expect day seven victory from God on day one of battles. It seems that the element of time allows God to show us more. Maybe day seven victory happens when I get to heaven. Maybe victory happens so slowly I don’t notice it even though it so clearly surrounds me.

Rick Claiborn