“So the people shouted when the priests blew the trumpets. And it happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat. Then the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city” (Joshua 6:20).
How often do you come across challenges in your life that appear too difficult to overcome? Do you find yourself being overwhelmed by the obstacle you face or do you place your faith in God to help you surmount this obstacle in your path by trusting in His power and in His grace?
After the children of Israel cross the Jordan River and enter the Promised Land under the new leadership of Joshua, the first city they come to attack is the city of Jericho. The city appears well suited to be defended and to be difficult to destroy because of its huge city walls. The children of Israel do not attack this well seemly well-fortified city with catapults or cannons. Instead, they attack it by their faith in God. They follow exactly what God tells them to do by marching around the city once a day for 6 days (Joshua 6:1-14). Then on the 7th day they march around the city 7 times, the priests blow the trumpets and the people shout (Joshua 6:15-20). The walls fall flat!
Israel then took the city. It was a great triumph for Israel. It was not won by them having a mighty army with powerful weapons. It was won by their placing their faith in God’s power: “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days” (Hebrews 11:30).
As followers of Christ, we all face walls or barriers in our lives that challenge us in our pilgrimage on this earth. The wall we face may be a physical or health problem that challenges us. We may have a broken relationship with another person and we may feel there is a barrier that is separating us from that person. We may be struggling with committing a particular sin over and over again in our lives and feel like we are facing a wall we simply can’t break through to overcome it.
These walls need to be torn down. They are torn down by placing our faith in God and surrendering our will to His Will that He may be glorified. We may not understand how God can tear down this wall or barrier with which we are facing. The challenge is for us to completely place our faith in God and to glorify Him by our actions and let God worry about how He will destroy the wall we are facing.
An example of the need of faith in our lives is seen with Jesus and His disciples. During His ministry on earth, Jesus had given his disciples the ability to cast out demons (Matthew 10:1). However, on one occasion there was a particular difficult case of demon possession they could not solve. “Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, ‘Why could we not cast it out?’ So Jesus said to them, ‘Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.’" (Matthew 17:19-21).
I am not advocating that Christians can cast out demons today. However, what the above verses show us is that some “walls” require a lot more faith to tear down. There needs to be some time devoted to prayer and fasting in order to develop the faith to tear down these walls. Are there walls in your life that you need God’s help to tear down? Devote some time to prayer and fasting. Today, I will rejoice that God gives me the faith to tear down walls!
“Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You” (Jeremiah 32:17).