The Story: Into Battle
You must have heard the expression, “I felt like I was banging my head against a brick wall”. Well the people in The Story this week could have sympathised with this big time.
Having successfully come through a whole series of traumatic events such as being chased by an army and crossing the Red Sea they are now faced with a seemingly impregnable brick wall, literally
Jericho, a strongly defended city surrounded by thick stone walls and highly defended, stood in their way The people of Israel could be forgiven if they just threw up their hands and threw in the towel. Instead the people of Israel faced up to the reality of this stronghold’s existence and the need for it to be conquered if they were to get where they believed God wanted them to be, in the Promised Land.
Do read chapter 7 in The Story to see how they managed to defeat the city. You can find it in the Bible in chapters 5 and 6 of Joshua or read it online here. There is also an ad-free Bible app you can download that’s free (available for Apple, Android, Blackberry, Windows and Kindle devices)
We also can have enemy strongholds in our life, things which are standing in the way of us going forward and enjoying what God has planned for us. It might be the brick wall of a Jericho of some particular sin, some habit or a problem outside of our control that is barring our way into a deeper and richer spiritual experience and causing us frustration and heartache in our personal relationships.
We have a choice to make: to conquer or not. While it remains unconquered life is not being lived as full as God intended it should be. It might seem impregnable to you but I have good news for you. God can knock down walls.
Our first battle is to let God help and not rely on our own strength and strategies.
Our second battle is to maybe follow God’s leading even if it doesn’t make a lot of sense to us.
Our third battle is asking God to be there and help us because if you are like me then I like to manage on my own!
I pray that with the battles you are facing at the moment that you will experience victory, help and encouragement.
