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Joshua 6:2-5, Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men.  March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days.  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.”

The battle plan that God gave Joshua for taking Jericho was unusual.  No battering rams or ladders were needed for the walls.  The Israelites were to simply march around the city walls for six days.  On the seventh day, they would march again, this time with priests blowing trumpets.  The wall would simply collapse and they could take the city.  Sure enough, that's exactly what occurred and the Israeli army set fire to the city.  The only ones who were spared were Rahab and her family, for she kept the spies safe on their reconnaissance mission.

As I read this today, I was reminded how God sometimes asks us to do things that don't immediately make sense to us.  And then because they don't make sense to us, we have a tendency to talk ourselves out of them.  Why would God ask me to go talk to that person?  I must have misunderstood.  Why would God want me to participate in that ministry?  That isn't in my giftedness.  I'm sure I got it wrong.  Sound familiar?  But God sees a much bigger picture.  He calls us to be obedient and simply do it.  It doesn't have to make sense.  Did marching around the walls of Jericho make sense?  No, using weapons of war would have made sense.  But God's plan was different and more effective.  It's no difference in our own lives and churches.

Let's pray...Almighty God, Help us be obedient even when things don't make sense to us.  Don't give up on us!  Keep giving us opportunities to live into our purpose for your Kingdom.  In Your Name, Amen.