I find it noteworthy that when God gave the city of Jericho
to Israel, the first time they marched around the city, NOTHING happened. Nothing.
The same with day 2-6. The first
6 days, nothing happened. There was no
progress. There was nothing measureable to
encourage the people’s faith. Further, on the 7th day, when they had
to march around the city a total of 7 times, the first 6 trips again, produced
no results. They actually had to march
12 times and saw NOTHING happen.
I have to say that typically, once I’ve persevered or pushed
through something just a few times, I pretty much feel worn out. Even when I am certain of God’s calling, I
still find myself doubting pretty quickly. 12 is not a magic number of attempts
or times to persevere, but a reminder that God does what He says He will
do. If He says He is giving a city into
your hands, He will do that. Even if obedience yields no results and feels like
it isn’t “paying off”. Even if it feels
like maybe we misunderstood, we can still trust Him to be faithful and come
through.
By the way, at the end of that 7th trip around the
city on the 7th day, the walls were demolished. The city was given to Israel just the way God
said it would be. It’s probably safe to
say that Israel learned to trust God that day, or at the very least, they were reminded.
I don’t know what’s in your life right now that has you
feeling like all your hard work is not paying off, or feels like chaos, or
feels hopeless, but may I remind you, that if you are obedient, and if you will
keep pursuing & fighting, God will not return His Word void. He never has and He won’t today. God will do what He said He would do. We can trust that.