Strength to Trust God Because in Him Faith Always Makes Sense
๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ
โข Identify a practice or habit in your life that youโve done because others do or it was passed on to you. What is its value for you?
โข Do you consider yourself as someone who is good at following instructions? Why or why not?ย
โข Have you ever been asked to do something that did not make sense at all to you? Did you do it anyway? Why or why not?
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ฐ๐ด๐ฉ๐ถ๐ข, โ๐๐ฆ๐ฆ, ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ, ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ท๐ข๐ญ๐ฐ๐ณ. ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ช๐ต๐บ, ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ. ๐๐ฉ๐ถ๐ด ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ด๐ช๐น ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ๐ด.โ ๐๐ข๐ฆ๐๐จ๐ ๐ฒ:๐ฎโ๐ฏ
(Read also: ๐๐ข๐ฆ๐๐จ๐ ๐ฒ:๐ญ, ๐ฐโ๐ฎ๐ณ.)
The Israelites were faced with a literal wall right in front of them, preventing them from moving forward. God gave them a set of instructions that, from a human perspective, makes no sense. The Bible has many stories of God giving commands and principles that donโt seem to make sense from manโs limited perspective. To our finite minds, these things might not make sense. But itโs here where unconventional faith rises, and we see Godโs character and power more clearly. Today, letโs look at some truths that would help us be courageous and trust God, even when His commands or ways donโt seem to make sense.ย
๐ญ. ๐๐ผ๐ฑโ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ต๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป ๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐.
๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ฐ๐ด๐ฉ๐ถ๐ข, โ๐๐ฆ๐ฆ, ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ, ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ท๐ข๐ญ๐ฐ๐ณ. ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ช๐ต๐บ, ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ. ๐๐ฉ๐ถ๐ด ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ด๐ช๐น ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ๐ด.โ๐๐ข๐ฆ๐๐จ๐ ๐ฒ:๐ฎโ๐ฏ
One might expect that since this is a military conquest, it would also take military tactics to get the job doneโperhaps dig holes underground, break the walls directly, or even encamp at the perimeter of the city 24/7 and wait until the citizens of Jericho finally give up. Godโs instructions to Joshua were nowhere near these tactics. And it was very clear that what God was requiring of His people was for them to trust His ways, even if they defy logic or cultural norms. What does Isaiah 55:8โ9 say about how Godโs thoughts and ways differ from ours? How do you respond when Godโs instructions to you seem counterintuitive or countercultural?
๐ฎ. ๐๐ผ๐ฑโ๐ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ณ๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต ๐ผ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ.
๐๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ต๐ด ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ. ๐๐ด ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ต, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ต, ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ช๐ต๐บ, ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ค๐ข๐ฑ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ช๐ต๐บ. ๐๐ข๐ฆ๐๐จ๐ ๐ฒ:๐ฎ๐ฌ
God instructed the Israelites to march around the city once a day for six days. And on the seventh day, they were to march seven times. The Israelites responded with faith and ready obedience. In the end, the walls fell down and the Israelite army was able to go up and capture the city, just as God called them to do. Ultimately, it was because of Godโs power through them. All they had to do was faithfully obey, even when nothing made sense, and even when victory seemed out of sight. What does it look like to have faith in Godโs ways even when what Heโs asking of you doesnโt make sense at first?ย
๐ฏ. ๐๐ผ๐ฑโ๐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ด๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ณ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ.ย
๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ต๐ด, ๐๐ฐ๐ด๐ฉ๐ถ๐ข ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ, โ๐๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ช๐ต๐บ. . . .โ ๐๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐๐ฐ๐ด๐ฉ๐ถ๐ข, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ง๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ. ๐๐ข๐ฆ๐๐จ๐ ๐ฒ:๐ญ๐ฒ, ๐ฎ๐ณ
God kept His word and gave victory to the Israelites. It was never about the Israelitesโ own ability or assessment of the matter; it was all about Godโs character. What promises from Godโs word are you trusting Him to fulfill? How does knowing His character as the faithful, all-powerful promise-keeper change your perspective as you wait for the fulfillment of these promises?ย
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข God is infinite; we are finite. His ways are higher than ours. What does this reality teach you about your current situation? Write this in your journal today and keep going back to it throughout the week.ย
โข Is there a command or instruction from God in your current season that youโve been setting aside because you canโt seem to make sense of it? What steps can you take to walk in obedience to God more and more every day?ย
โข Think of a family member or friend who needs to know God and follow Him. How can you encourage him or her to follow God wholeheartedly even when itโs countercultural?ย
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God that He is a faithful, all-powerful, and loving God. Ask Him for faith to believe and trust in His character, even in uncertain times or in moments when it seems like His instruction doesnโt make sense.ย
โข Pray for a heart receptive to Godโs voiceโeager and ready to obey His commands, and willing to respond in faith to see His power at work in every situation.ย
โข Intercede for people who might be navigating life apart from the strength only God can provide. Ask Him to show you how you can encourage them and build their faith.ย