Yea Right, How are We Really Going to Beat Jericho?

Joshua 6: 1-5

Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none came in. ² And the Lord said to Joshua: “See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor. ³ You shall march around the city, all you men of war; you shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days. ⁴ And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. ⁵ It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him.”

March, blow horns, shout, and I will give you the victory. These instructions must have seemed so bizarre to Joshua and the Israelites. These people knew battle, they were well acquainted with war and all that it entailed and this was certainly not the way things had worked in the past.

Your little ones live out this kind of scenario every day.  We give them instruction, tell them they can’t have things, make them do things and all the while their little minds are struggling to understand the complicated reasoning behind our commands. As you teach your child to trust that you have a good reason for the things you ask of them, you are laying out the groundwork for them to trust God in the very same way.

Look for opportunities to point out the outcome of obedient behavior. When they wake up with a smile remind them that it was because they went right to bed the night before that they feel so happy now.  When sharing a toy with a crying friend brings a smile to the friends face let your little one know how wonderful that is.

As parents we make mistakes.  Sometimes we give instructions based on how we feel, not necessarily what is best for our children. Isn’t it a blessing to know that God always has our best interest at heart?