“In all your ways acknowledge Him”
- Aug 15, 2025
- 5 min read
John Stott said, “Faith is laying hold of Jesus Christ personally. There is no merit in it. It is not another ‘work’. Its value is not in itself, but entirely in its object, Jesus Christ.”
We said last time, through faith in God and His Word, we can face our Jericho’s.
Reading: Hebrews 11:30 - “By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.”
Because Jericho controlled the trade routes, it was a strong, almost invincible, fortress city. It was surrounded by a system of two massive stone walls. The outer wall was 2m thick and about 6m high. The inner wall was about 4m thick and was 9m high. Between the walls was a guarded walkway about 5m wide.
The Lord gave to Joshua the exact orders for overcoming the city, and all he, the armed men and the priests had to do was obey by faith.
Jonathan Sims says, “Joshua was not fighting merely for victory…he was fighting from victory… assured of the captain’s presence.”
The armed men were to lead the procession of 40,000 of them, with seven priests following with trumpets. The ark was to follow, and then the rear guard finished the procession (Josh 6:9). The procession was to march around Jericho a total of thirteen marches, in absolute silence except for the trumpets blowing (Josh 6:10). On the seventh day, they were to march around seven times and on the final march they were to blow the trumpets and shout. What a strange plan for fighting a war!
God’s proposals often demand radical obedience.
Alan Redpath said, “The greatest difficulty in the Christian life is to get to the place where one is prepared to admit that the whole thing is too big, that the power of the enemy is too great, and if Jericho is to fall, then God must bring it about.”
God’s ways are not our ways. God always knows what He is doing.
Paul said, “For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.” (1 Cor 1:25).
God told Noah to build a boat. He told Abraham to sacrifice his son. He put Joseph into a position of influence by giving him dreams! God told Gideon he needed a smaller army. He defeated the Philistines using a boy with a catapult. He chose the Church’s leading opponent (Paul) to be its chief theologian.
This is our God who chose to take the form of servant and give His life for sinful mankind (Phil 2).
What would happen today if we came alive to God’s power? Remember what Paul said in Ephesians 3:20: “to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.”
Are we really aware of the power that is ours through the risen Christ?
Annie Dillard struggled with what it was to be a Christian. But what she writes about Christians gathering together is so insightful, "Does anyone have the foggiest idea of what sort of power we so blithely invoke or as I suspect, does no one really believe a word of it?” She goes onto say, “We should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should be issuing life preservers... lashing us to the pews."
His is the kind of power that brings dead things to life, that parts seas, heals the blind, walks on water, commands nature, brings down walls, redeems and renews! Hallelujah!
Knowing this and having read this story in Joshua 6, are we prepared to embrace God’s will and respond with a radical kind of obedience? God’s plan may appear silly to onlookers, but at the end of the day, it’s God’s plan… and His plans are marked by perfection.
As followers of Jesus, you may get labelled and insulted, but radical obedience and courageous faith trusts God and follows him at any cost.
Philip Brooks says, “Do not pray for easy lives, pray to be better men and women. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers, pray for powers equal to your tasks.”
Or as Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “ Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”
You and I may have thought, save all the walking for seven days, just do it! Could God have delivered the city to Joshua on the first day? Absolutely! But the requirement of 7 days of marching (during which the people were not allowed to talk) meant a great discipline for the nation.
Faith and patience go together (read Heb 6:11-15). By the seventh day and the seventh trip around Jericho that day, the people were not circling the problem, they were circling God's promises. Look at Philippians 4:6-9 or Psalm 91 and try it!
Can I just say, the difficulties we face in life do not change the promises of God.
Who ever heard of taking a city using weapons like shouts and trumpets?
The Psalmist knew of God’s power. Psalm 47:3: “He subdued the nations under us… He chose our inheritance for us… God has ascended amid shouts of joy, the LORD amid the sounding of trumpets…”
Zechariah 4:6: “not by might nor by power but by my Spirit says the Lord.”
The ark, representing God’s presence, was with them, and this meant that God would do the work.
Alan Redpath states, “God made the Israelites walk around the great fortification until within themselves they died to every hope of conquest unless God should intervene”
Pause for a moment and remember
Christ is my reward. And all of my devotion.
Now there's nothing in this world that could ever satisfy.
I want you to notice something about when Joshua passed on the instructions of the Lord to the people. If you look back over the text you will discover that Joshua didn't tell the people how many times they were required to march around the city, or what the result of their marching would be. He didn’t even mention that the walls were going to collapse!
I'm reminded of 2 Corinthians 10: 3-6, “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.”
How wonderful to think this is true today wherever you are and for whatever you're going through. Praise the Lord!
William Gurnall writes, “It requires more bravery and greatness of spirit to obey God faithfully than to command an army of men; to be a Christian, than to be a captain.”
We need to discover again that it's consecration before conquest. It's stop, bow, sandals off! It's worship before warfare. It's those visits that we make to God that brings the victory.
What a principle to live by today!
I love the story of John Knox. Mary the Queen of Scots was afraid of John Knox. She once said, "I fear the prayers of John Knox more than all the armies in Europe." She knew the power of that man in his private visits with the Lord. Those that heard the queen’s rage feared for Knox’s life. Knox’s response, “Why should I be afraid of a few minutes with the queen when I’ve spent four hours with the King?”
Why should any of us ever be afraid, or intimidated by those around us, when we are in the presence of the King of kings?
Wayne Stiles says, “Your strong God stands ready to lead you forward. Just resolve to follow in faith.”
"In all your ways acknowledge him."
Proverbs 3:5-6 are verses I frequently go to. Some challenging questions in this blog, but taking it all to the Lord in prayer. Thank you Harry.