Walls Fall Down: God’s Unusual Plan for VictorySample

SHRINKING THE WALL What is standing in the way of your victory? Is it a spiritual, financial, or health issue? Or perhaps a difficult relationship or a nagging habit you can’t seem to break. For Joshua and the Israelites, it was the walls of Jericho. This prosperous and heavily fortified city was the gateway to the Promised Land. After wandering around the wilderness for 40 years because of sin, the Israelites were finally on the doorstep of the plentiful land God had promised their forefathers. It would be a new beginning and a place to call their own at last—but first they had to defeat Jericho. To defeat a kingdom that was surrounded by two sets of massive walls with securely barred gates must have seemed like an impossible task. Joshua and the Israelites probably felt like tiny ants standing next to those walls. Yet they followed God’s precise instructions, and what resulted was one of the most epic victories ever recorded! You can draw seven principles from this story to obtain victory over your present battles. The first is to focus on the greatness of God rather than on the size of your problem. If you concentrate on the trial, burden, or battle you are facing today, your problem will appear insurmountable. However, if you focus on the greatness of God, that problem immediately shrinks. When we look to God’s Word, we are reminded how magnificent and capable our Lord truly is. Isaiah 40:12 (NLT) says, “Who else has held the oceans in his hand? Who has measured off the heavens with his fingers? Who else knows the weight of the earth or has weighed the mountains and hills on a scale?” Verses like the one above give us perspective. Unfortunately, perspective is exactly what we lack in the midst of life’s troubles. We tend to lose sight of everything else and all we see are the huge obstacles standing in our way. This causes us to feel helpless, hopeless, and defeated. The right perspective is acknowledging that God is exponentially greater than any wall we may be facing. God reveals His greatness through the Bible, creation, and answered prayers. We see His greatness whenever we ponder the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. Ask God to reveal His greatness to you, and He will! You’ll be reminded of God’s power and His ability to demolish every wall standing in your way.