With God in Control, Victory is Just a Shout Away

And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? Joshua 5:13
And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the LORD.
And seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the LORD went on continually, and blew with the trumpets: and the armed men went before them; but the rereward came after the ark of the LORD, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets. Joshua 6:12-13

Last September, we decided to take a few days away in the dune buggy. It was finally restored, and I wanted to take it to the northern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Well, let me tell you, anytime you hear the Birds are taking a day off, prepare for disaster. (Remember last January and the tornado??) Since the weather was so bad, we changed our plans and took the car. On Friday morning, we received a call that we needed to get home quickly. The trip home was fraught with impasse after impasse. The hurricane brought trees down on the interstate, power lines down, and flooded roads we would normally take. A typical 3-hour trip turned into 6 hours.

Now, why did I tell you all of that? Because just like the Israelites facing Jericho, we faced roadblocks.

Jericho was looming ahead of them and Joshua didn't know what to do.

Then, God came onto the scene. The Commander of the Lord's Army stood in front of Joshua assuring the Canaanites would not succeed.

The Commander gave Joshua his marching orders. Literally - he was told to march silently for six days. This gave them time to reflect and pray for victory through the only one that could provide it. Can you imagine? Men of war told to go for a stroll around the city walls for six days without speaking. Why? Because God was in control and the victory would be His.
No soldier would lay claim to the victory they would soon experience.

Following six days of silent marching, God worked a mighty miracle. Joshua was commanded to march 7 times around the city and then shout with everything they had. The shouting didn't bring the walls down, but their faith in the almighty did. God crumbled what was referred to as impregnable walls to nothing - not even one stone stood on another.

So, how can we apply this to our lives? Glad you asked.

Robert Morgan shared 5 ways to turn our obstacles into God's opportunities:

1. Encircle your obstacles in power
Just as God was with Joshua, He will be with us.
2. Encircle your obstacles in prayer
Just as the Israelites prayed as they walked, we need to pray as we trust.
3. Encircle your obstacles with promises
God gave Joshua a promise, just as He has promised to be with us always.
4. Encircle your obstacles with perseverance
Continue trusting, even when it doesn't make sense
5. Encircle your obstacles with praise
Praise God through it all

Even as I write this, Never A Time by the Lindsey's is playing. The chorus says,

Well, tell me a time He's not been faithful
Tell me a morning His mercies weren't new
Tell me a moment He wasn't able to carry you through
Tell me a day He was less than Almighty
When He could not roll back the tide
Child, when you look back, you're gonna find
There was never a time

C