when you're tired of waiting.

How long do you think it took the Israelites to march around Jericho? How long do you think it took them to march around it seven times on the seventh day?

I'm reading through the book of Joshua and am reminded, as I read chapter 6, that God's timing is never really tied to a time frame.

Like He didn't tell Joshua to march for an hour. He didn't tell him that he had two hours and to circle Jericho as many times as they could (so maybe try sprinting).

They just had to completely circle the city. They were done when they were done.

I wonder if they ever doubted that what they were doing was making any difference. If they wondered how circling the city would help them conquer it, or why they were armed just to march and not fight. I wonder if the Israelites ever thought it was taking longer to circle the city than they anticipated. Or if they felt frustrated with the pace at which they were moving, considering the ground they had to cover.

I wonder if that's why they had to march in silence – the way Zechariah was silenced until his wife gave birth to John the Baptist. So their words wouldn’t mess with the plans of God.

I've always just assumed they were full of faith, waking up every day ready to march around the city. I guess I never really thought about it until I started circling (and circling) things that God has put on my heart. I do not wake up every day just ready to keep going.

I want to know how much longer it will take for me to see what God said, but I'm reminded that that would be like the Israelites asking how much longer they have to march.

As long as it takes to circle the city.

The pace can change, I suppose. But the city must be circled.

When they were done, scripture says that suddenly the walls of Jericho collapsed.

Suddenly.

God may not have told me how many times I will circle His promises until the walls will collapse, but I know it can happen suddenly – that I don't need to see the walls slowly crumbling as I move. God can move in a moment.

But then? That's not the end. After the walls fell, the Israelites charged straight into the city and captured it.

Here's the thing. When God does the miraculous thing and makes a way where there was no way, it's going to be my turn. Am I ready to go right in and take the city?

Sometimes I think I am.

But then – perhaps in all their marching, in all their silence, in all their armor, and in the way they kept going in spite of seeing no physical evidence that what they were doing mattered at all, the Israelites were being strengthened in a way they couldn’t have known they needed.

I’m trying to be grateful for the waiting. For the circling. Because I know that something is happening – I’m gaining something I don’t even know I’ll need. And it means that when the time comes, I'll be ready to go right in and take what's mine.

I don’t know what you’re waiting for or what it feels like today, but I do know that however it happened, the Israelites kept marching, suddenly came, and they entered the promised land. It will happen for you too – not because you’re strong enough or because you have what it takes, but because God always keeps His promises.

Keep marching.

The power of God is in you, even on a Thursday.