Moses had passed . . Joshua was the new leader . . 40 years of futility in the wilderness for the nation of Israel was in the rear view mirror . . and the road ahead would ask for nothing less than all the faith and courage God’s people could find: water, walls and warriors would all appear to be directly in the way of finally settling in Canaan.

The water? The overflowing Jordan River in Springtime. The walls? Jericho, the most fortified and well-armed city on the West Bank. The warriors? All those Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites.

But along with all the problems that lay ahead in Israel’s path was a much repeated promise from God, “I will be with you . . I will not fail you or abandon you.” Joshua 1:5

On the heels of the miraculous crossing of the Jordan, which likely took as many as 30 days to complete (roughly 2.5 million Israelites) and occurred no more than five miles from Jericho, God’s promise of presence, protection and provision for victory would be reaffirmed by the Commander of the Lord’s army who appeared before Joshua and said, “I have given you Jericho, its king, and all its strong warriors.” Joshua 6:2

Add one not so small wrinkle: Joshua was tasked with the mission of instructing the entire Jewish nation to go in circles for 7 days – even worse, the 7th day would require 7 more laps around Jericho. It is one thing to find yourself in the spin cycle in the middle of the wilderness for 40 years, but now God was asking Joshua and the entire nation of Israel to go in circles around the enemy’s front door.

Add even one more wrinkle: the very act of marching was designed to be an act of worship by all the Israelites to God and God alone, signified by the order to assign 7 priests to the sole duty of marching just ahead of the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant and blowing on ram’s horns (referred to as the Shofar in ancient times) while every man, woman and child kept themselves in absolute silence.

Reverse course? Not a chance – the Jordan had closed up and was at peak flow – forward in faith was the only option.

Day 1 – not a word spoken, only the blowing of horns, no sign of God’s intervention, just one big lap around Jericho.
Days 2 through 6 – exactly the same.

By Day 7, the Israelites, especially Joshua, were realizing that while God’s greatest victories and breakthroughs are signaled by a reassuring Divine promise – they also come tethered to God’s greatest tests.

What Kind of Worship Is God Looking For On The Unfulfilled Side of Victory?

So often we ‘categorize” worship in the life of a Christian as a corporate event at a local church, but our times of deepest and most undiluted worship are typically far removed from a programmed environment. How we “sing our song” on the unresolved side of a major life challenge is God’s chosen chapel, if you will, for the soul.

Elijah & His Servant – The Test of Fervency – 1 Kings 18

A drought had decimated Israel for more than three years in the wake of the rise of perhaps it’s most evil ruler ever – Ahab, who stooped to unparalleled levels of darkness with much inspiration and coercion from his wife Jezebel.

But the promise of provision came from the Lord to Elisha – rain is coming.

Mt. Carmel would prove to be the classroom for this exam – 450 false prophets of Baal had been exposed and put to death, but not even a hint of rain was to be found in the sky.

Elijah would turn to the Lord in prayer on the top of Carmel and then ask his servant to go and look towards the sea to determine if rain was coming . . but to no avail. This process would repeat 6 more times and somewhere in the process, the servant had to begin to feel as though he was doing nothing more than going in circles. Only on the 7th time did the servant notice a tiny little cloud. A “terrific” rainstorm soon ensued – the drought was busted.

The Worship Test? God was looking for fervency in prayer – fervency that can only be demonstrated in relentless perseverance and pursuit of the throne of God when nothing in our circumstances resembles breakthrough.
The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
– James 5:16 –

Naaman & The Jordan River – The Test of Humility – 2 Kings 5

Aram (modern day Syria) was an enemy to Israel in the time of Elisha, but Naaman Commander of all Aram’s military, and a highly lauded warrior at that, had a health condition that superseded political matters. Leprosy looks for solutions in unusual places, and thanks to a Jewish servant girl, Naaman made his way to Israel seeking healing from the Prophet Elisha.

Problem, Naaman had become infatuated with his own success and authority and thought he could buy a miracle from God. No wonder he was insulted by Elisha not even making it to the door to personally hear his request – instead, Elisha’s messenger pointed Naaman towards the Jordan where he would need to wash himself . . you guessed it . . 7 times.

No prominent military commander is ever going to be comfortable with receiving directions that lead to a virtual spin cycle – even worse if the circle you take leads to the unimpressive muddy Jordan as compared to the fresh mountain-sourced clear-water streams back home
.
The Worship Test? God was looking for humility – humility that can only flow from a life that comes to an utter and complete place of surrender to God’s ways, at God’s time, in God’s place.

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.
– James 4:10 –

Joshua, The Israelites & Jericho – The Test of Trust – Joshua 5

The Bible is plum-full of examples of where talking can lead to trouble: Adam & Eve talked their way into sinful rebellion – the Scribes and Pharisees murmured against Jesus and His disciples to the the point that they talked their way out of the Kingdom – 10 of the 12 spies commissioned by Moses talked a nation into 40 years of wandering.

Can you imagine where runaway conversation might have led the circling Israelites after Day 1 . . or how about Day 6, knowing that nothing has happened and tomorrow means more of the same times 7.

The Worship Test? God was looking for trust – the kind of trust that wouldn’t even think of flinching in His presence or scrambling in fear to take matters into one’s own hands.

“Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.”
Psalm 46:10

Sing Your Song

You likely have discovered that God’s most trying tests can cause you to feel like you too are doing nothing more than going in circles. but His tests are not the kind of tests that are designed to break us . . but rather bring us into a time of pure worship . . the kind that brings us close to the very God who is jealous for our whole heart.

On the surface, singing our song on the uphill side to victory may seem like your life has been reduced to the senseless blaring of a ram’s horn, but the melody that reaches heaven and pleases our Father is one whose notes are marked by relentless, fervent prayer, humble surrender and a still soul that has learned to lean on God alone.

Once we have embraced that song in our dry season, in our time of affliction, in our time of battle . . we unlock the key to experiencing His “right time” (1 peter 5:6), and His unmistakable “right time” is when our song changes to a shout . . not a shout of desperation, panic or fear . . but a shout of victory . . victory that will forever remind us that life this side of heaven is about far more than simply . . going in circles.

When the people heard the sound of the rams’ horns, they shouted as loud as they could – suddenly, the walls of Jericho collapsed.
– Joshua 5:20 –

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Rejoice in our confident hope.

None of us want to hear the admonition “be patient” when everything is coming up empty – but the admonition issued by the apostle Paul is right here in Romans 12 for our benefit.

If you stop to consider a rewind of Paul’s trouble-filled ministry-life, perhaps there was none other more qualified to speak on the subject of patience.

So it only makes sense to ask-back this question:

“How did Paul find patience and put it into practice when he needed patience most?”

We know of 3 paths (perhaps among many) he chose for sure:

Path #1 – LOOK AHEAD: Focus on the end game – our hope

Paul battled for His joy, never lost perspective and never got tangled up in trying to make heaven happen on earth.

Your chapter today may be tough, but the book ends well for those who have put their trust in Christ.

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” (2 Cor. 2:9)

Path #2 – KEEP ON PRAYING: Reject trying hard and move towards trusting hard

Patience runs thin for those that stubbornly run through life in pride-filled independence.

Paul took a radically different tack . . “For me to live is Christ ..” (Phil. 1:21) and found His indwelling Savior as anchor-point for his soul to be a far superior choice to a prayer-less self-led, faith-famished life.

“Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” (Eph. 6:10)

Path #3 – LOOK AROUND: Patience is not passive but purposeful

Paul refused a stuck-in-neutral “victim lifestyle,” but rather incessantly saw trouble and hardship as opportunity to fulfill our highest calling in Christ, to serve others…

How else could he have arrived at a Romans 12 kind of faith that chose to be “a living sacrifice” . . “never lacking in zeal – serving the Lord” . . “practicing hospitality”?

My LifeLesson

Paul’s exhortation to the Roman believers serves as reminder to all of us that testing and adversity are part of the fabric of the Christian life.

Perhaps there is nothing more authenticating about our faith and energizing to our perseverance than choosing to make room for others (especially our brothers and sisters in Christ) who are in profound need.

If you are tempted to rehearse the old spiritual “Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen”… think again, you are far from alone – you are on the most frequent-traveled path in the Kingdom… a trail that was first blazed by our Savior who offers all the grace we need to keep going on our day of trouble.

“Lord, you are my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in You!
You are good to those who depend on You, to those who search for You.
So it is good to wait quietly for Your salvation. Amen”
– Lamentations 3:24-26

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“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.”

Proverbs 3:5 

If one were to attempt to summarize human nature as a whole in words, it would be no shock to most that the writer might describe us as a people who are quite simply very fickle in our commitments – that’s right, we tend to spin like a weather vain rather than hold our ground when it comes to keeping our word.

Have you been on the disappointing end of a failed promise or twenty?

A Father tells his daughter he will be right back, only to get bogged down at work for hours.

A son tells his mother that he will get all his chores caught up, but somehow gets entranced with a video game.

A husband tells his wife that He will get that anniversary weekend booked, only to lose track time in the scurry of life.

Have not casual, small-scale failed promises become part of our “everyday”?

Has not our media become saturated with promise after promise about products and services that fail to match the hype and expectation?

Our world is broken because we are broken . . and tragically, our failed promises show up all too often in the serious, large-scale category as well.

So what do you when life has led you through a valley, a wilderness season, a time of loss and less?

How do you know who you can trust?

One thing for sure, you eventually find out who your real friends and allies are vs. those who were just renting space in your “good times”.
The stated intentions and commitments of others are viewed differently and you reluctantly allow yourself to “hang” on the words of others because your soul is not sure you can absorb being “hung out to dry” even just one more time.

Have you been there . . you know, that vulnerable intersection where hope and longing are stirred by “sincere and heartfelt words” from another or several others?

Perhaps a long-deferred passion, pursuit and calling seems as though it could come to life again… maybe winter has an end and a spring time of new life and opportunity is just ahead.

I have heard those words . .

They come in phrases like: “David, I want to invest in you”… “I want to see you thrive and fly like you have never flown before”…

“You possess all the key qualities and skills”… “You are with family now”…

“You are on of us, you are part of the team”… “We can’t wait to do life together”.

Those kind of words sink deep to the soul and a tiny light starts to flicker again and you think to yourself, maybe just maybe I am home.

You dig deep and summon the God-given grace to embrace the opportunity that has apparently embraced you… only to discover within hours and days that “broken” in the lives of those who sought to draw you in to a new season of ministry will necessarily choke out the sustainability of their commitment …

And their words suddenly become little more than failed promises.

In those moments, it is ever so important to know what and Who really anchors your soul.

Here are three timeless truths from God’s word that can help:

1) God Establishes Our Path

Though circumstances may suggest so on the surface, we are never subject to the whimsy and fickleness of man.
If you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ, than you can count on Psalm 37:23,“The LORD makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him.”

We never have to “sell ourselves” into opportunity next; that only reveals the sadness of a God-people who apparently think they serve a pretty small God.

The freedom of the Christ-life is that everyday we get to, “Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, and He will do it.” (Psalm 37:5)

2) God Qualifies The Called And You Are Called

Our world has so many ways of subtly and not-so-subtly messaging that we don’t measure up to the task and demands at hand.

Often, especially in the church, the very ones who push us to the curb are doing little more than masking fear of their own personal inadequacies and using power and control as their medication.

Remember, religion is all about sorting out and calling “The Qualified” and quite frankly, God hates religion. His love, mercy and grace is in the full-time business of qualifying the called, “The One who calls you is faithful, and He will do it.” (1 Thessalonians 5:24)

3) God Is God And Men Are Not

When the promises of others fall flat, we must be mindful that we all are desperately in need of God’s mercy… and that includes you and I.

We too have failed to own up perfectly to all our commitments.

Rejoice in the fact that God’s word can be trusted 100% of the time and that The Perfect One came to rescue us, the imperfect, from our imperfection: “God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?” (Numbers 23:19)

The message?

Forgive the fractured (starting with yourself) and follow The Faithful One . .
He will establish your path in His time by His own hand . .
His calling over your life is sure and without conditions . .
He will be true to Himself because He is The Truth . .
He will not disappoint and leave you with a pile of…
Failed Promises.

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