"Now the gates of Jericho were securely barred because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in. Then the LORD said to Joshua, 'See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.' On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven times. The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the army, 'Shout! For the LORD has given you the city!' When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city. So the LORD was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout the land.(Joshua 6:1-5,15,16,20,27 NIV).
"Faith is believing when common sense tells you not to." ("Miracle on 34th Street," 1947)
Common sense must have told Joshua that Jericho—the last thing standing between the people of God and the long-awaited Promised Land—was too big, too towering, and too fortified to be overtaken by a bunch of weary travelers whose God-given battle plan was just to make a bunch of noise.
But uncommon faith told Joshua that God always keeps His promises...and the land they were entering wasn't called "Promised" for nothing.
Uncommon faith told Joshua to see what God told him to see—"I have delivered Jericho into your hands"—rather than what was literally in his line of vision.
It's not that we check our reasoning and intellect at the door when we put our faith in God; it's just that sometimes only faith will open the door in the first place.
Common sense may tell us there's no way we can do something big and hard we've never done before. But uncommon faith tells us God is the Way-Maker.
Common sense may tell us a relationship is too broken for there to ever be any hope of reconciliation. But uncommon faith tells us God is the Builder.
Common sense may tell us a diagnosis is a death sentence. But uncommon faith tells us God is the Healer.
Common sense may tell us we do not have the resources to accomplish some lofty goal. But uncommon faith tells us God is the Provider.
Common sense may tell us we have reached the end. But uncommon faith tells us God is the Beginning.
* * * * * *
God, help me to think and reason and process and use the mind You've given me. But when my common sense tells me I'm staring down a Jericho that's too big to be felled, help me go forward on faith in my uncommon God, with whom nothing is impossible.
It's not that we check our reasoning and intellect at the door when we put our faith in God; it's just that sometimes only faith will open the door in the first place.
Common sense may tell us there's no way we can do something big and hard we've never done before. But uncommon faith tells us God is the Way-Maker.
Common sense may tell us a relationship is too broken for there to ever be any hope of reconciliation. But uncommon faith tells us God is the Builder.
Common sense may tell us a diagnosis is a death sentence. But uncommon faith tells us God is the Healer.
Common sense may tell us we do not have the resources to accomplish some lofty goal. But uncommon faith tells us God is the Provider.
Common sense may tell us we have reached the end. But uncommon faith tells us God is the Beginning.
* * * * * *
God, help me to think and reason and process and use the mind You've given me. But when my common sense tells me I'm staring down a Jericho that's too big to be felled, help me go forward on faith in my uncommon God, with whom nothing is impossible.
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I'd love to hear from you! Feel free to tell me what you really think. Years ago, I explained to my then-two-year-old that my appointment with a counselor was "sort of like going to a doctor who will help me be a better mommy." Without blinking, she replied, "You'd better go every day." All of which is just to say I've spent some time in the school of brutal honesty!