Hebrews 11:30 “By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.” Today's episode talks about how sometimes God asks us to do things that make us look crazy. What if we did them anyway? What if we looked foolish for Christ? Joshua did what God told him to do even though it didn't make any sense. Will we do the same? Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Is He Crazy?
Hebrews 11:30 “By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.”
The story of Joshua and the walls of Jericho always makes me laugh because I wonder what the army must have thought about his plan. You can read about it in Joshua 6. I will read you the beginning part where God was talking to Joshua 6:1-5, “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.”
I think about how sometimes I feel the Holy Spirit prompting me to go pray over someone and yet I don’t because I am afraid of what they will think and yet Joshua walked up to his army and the priests and told them they were going to walk around the walled city for seven days and then the walls were just going to fall down. Can you imagine how that must have sounded to those who were listening? What kind of battle strategy is that? I wonder if he was nervous telling the people what God told him? I know they lived in a time when God’s presence was with them more visibly. However, the people going into Jericho were not the same people that crossed the red sea on dry ground. They are their descendants, so I am sure they heard the story of what happened but none of them, except Joshua and one other man were there when it happened. I wonder if God prepared the people’s hearts and minds to hear this plan?
I guess I didn’t really think of that before. The fact that if God is asking us to do something, then he probably prepared the hearts and minds of those involved. If God is asking me to pray over someone, that person probably won’t say no. God probably wouldn’t send me into a situation where they would say no, unless maybe if He was trying to teach me humility. Joshua’s faith is the fourth kind of faith I wanted to talk to you about today. Joshua had faith to do what God told him to do even when it seemed crazy. It doesn’t say in the Bible that Joshua argued with God. It doesn’t say that He hesitated to do what God told him to do. It just says what God told him to do and then he did it. He did it even though he didn’t understand it. He did it even though I am sure many people thought he was crazy.
What is God calling us to do that we are avoiding, or arguing or hesitating to do because it doesn’t make sense and it makes us look crazy? Often times God will have you step outside of your comfort zone. Have you watched the series “The Chosen?” If not, you should, it is so good! In this show, the apostles are constantly being asked to do things they don’t know how to do. They are being asked to do things they feel foolish doing. People didn’t just go around talking about God and healing people. Until Jesus, that wasn’t something that was seen. However, when Jesus came along it was ok if he was healing people as he was the Messiah. Then Jesus sent his 12 apostles out 2 by 2 to go out and talk about God and to perform signs and wonders. They had no idea what they were doing and I am sure they felt as if people would look at them funny. There is something called imposture syndrome. It is when you are doing something and yet your inner voice, your inner critic asks who you think you are to be doing this things. Your inner critic tells you that you aren’t good enough to do what you are doing. It tries to cast doubt on you and your abilities. I am not sure they knew what imposture syndrome was back then, but I am sure the apostles had it.
I am sure they felt like they were not qualified to do the things Jesus was asking them to do. If the apostles on the show are any indication of how the real apostles felt, they definitely felt insecure. They definitely felt like, “Who are we to do God’s work?” You may be feeling like this too. Who am I to be called by God? Who am I to pray over someone? Who am I think God is asking me to do this crazy thing? Who you are is a child of God. God asks us to be obedient, even when He is asking us to do something out of the ordinary. Many of the Saints were asked to do things that made them look crazy. People told them they were crazy or they were imaging things, especially the people that had apparitions of Mary. Many people told them they were crazy and they didn’t really see what they knew they saw.
If you feel as though God is calling you to do something, step out in faith and do it. If you want to be obedient and yet you really aren’t sure it what you are hearing is from God or not, ask a friend to discern it with you. Ask them to pray about it and see if they get a confirmation. You can also talk about it with a priest or a spiritual director. God does call us out of our comfort zone and yet He also gives us all we need to do the thing He is asking us to do. If you feel you need confirmation, He will give you confirmation.
What is God calling you to do that you are afraid to do? What is He calling you to do that you think seems foolish? What if you did that thing anyway? What if you did it scared? What if you did it looking like a fool? What if Joshua had been too afraid to look like a fool in front of the Army? What if he decided to try to take the city his own way? Do you think it would have worked? Do you think it would have been as easy as marching around the wall for 7 days? God’s way is always the best way. Even if we feel foolish doing it.
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we want to follow you, we want to be obedient to your calls, help us. We want to do as you ask, even if we will look foolish. We want to trust that what we hear is from you, help us. Help us to have the faith of Joshua and to step forward in trust. We love you Lord, you are truly amazing. We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I just want to give you a head’s up that next week I will be selling autographed copies of my book. I will write a personal message to each person that buys a copy from me and I will mail it to your house. It will be $13 for the autographed copy and then $4.00 for shipping and handling. I will put a link for this in the show notes starting next week. I just wanted to let everyone know what was coming. I look forward to meeting you here again on Monday! Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed weekend!