A Different Way

"When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city."

Joshua 6:20 NIV

One of the most predictable aspects of human life is our ability to be creatures of habit. It’s rare that we shy away from daily routines in life, from how we start the morning to how we end each night. My alarm goes off at 6am, I hit the snooze until about 6:35 before getting up, going downstairs opening blinds, turning on tea kettle then back upstairs to wake up the kids, or figuring out the outfit of the day, etc. I have become regimented to this routine and the biggest struggle would be attempting to do things a different way because I’ve discovered a routine that works for me. What happens when what you’ve become accustomed daily God chooses to shape up or shift you away from?

In our verse for the day God provides Joshua with instructions that Jericho, its king and fighting men will be delivered into their hands. The wall of Jericho presented itself as a barrier or obstacle, but through obedience to God what stood in front of them could be removed. So, Joshua and children of Israel were instructed to walk around the wall of Jericho once for six days and 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. They were obedient in what they were instructed, and the wall came down, but it happened in a different way. In the past God used a staff to strike a rock, Moses lifted hands, parting the Red Sea, etc. Why not repeat what’s already done? Sometimes God will push us to do something different because our dependency to draw on familiar can create one-dimension abilities and the only one thing God desires is that we have no other God’s before him. Can God push you to do something different? Do you always respond to calamity the same way? Do you still approach problem solving in the same manner? Are you so conditioned that trying different causes fear and paralysis? I encourage you today, if God is calling you to try a different way why not give it try. Doing the same thing and expecting different results is insanity.