Truth in my Travels

Tag: faith

  • Breaking Down Walls

    The weather was pleasant enough recently that I got out on my e-bike and pedaled. (Yes, I pedal. I use an assist of 1 or nothing when it’s relatively flat, and the 2 prevents the hip pain that comes from leaning into hill-climbs or wind.)  I cycled past the stands of trees, the fields of corn and soybeans, and the homes spread out along the country road. It was peaceful, with only the songs of birds breaking the silence.

    Most of this summer has been oppressively hot—more so than usual for southwestern Illinois. It has kept me inside. I hadn’t been getting out of the house for nonessential things, like my normal enjoyment of the outdoors.

    I had been feeling almost depressed, closed in by the walls of my home that God, in His kind provision, had figuratively removed through the perfect weather on that day.

    It reminded me of other instances when God removed walls. The destruction of Jericho in Joshua 6 tells the story, and like so much of the Bible, when we relate the stories to our own Christian lives, our eyes open to great life lessons.

    The lesson in Joshua 6 is that God eliminates walls when we humbly obey Him. And in a metaphorical way, He does so in the New Testament.

    Leading the Israelites into the Promised Land, Joshua trusted God and took direction from Him. Every town in the land they were about to occupy was full of paganism, idolatry, and wickedness, so everything in them had to be destroyed completely. This was necessary to avoid the contamination and temptation of sinful cultures.

    The first town was Jericho, which was a fortress considered to be impenetrable. The walls stood 25 feet high and 20 feet thick in places. By God’s miraculous power and the Israelites’ obedience of God’s specific instructions, the walls of Jericho were destroyed.

    Joshua, his armed men, and the priests marched around the city once for each of six days. Some of the priests carried the Ark of the Covenant, while seven priests walking around it each had a trumpet that they blew as they marched.

    On the seventh day, they marched around Jericho seven times, blowing the trumpets, and at the last, long blast:

    Joshua 6:20 ‘When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city. ‘

    For the complete story of Jericho’s destruction:

    Joshua 6 | NIV Bible – Bible App

    Every living thing was destroyed, but a woman named Rahab was saved, along with her family.

    We read in Joshua 2 that Joshua had sent two of his men to scope out Jericho before the plan to enter it was implemented. These men stayed with Rahab, a prostitute whose house was in a strategic location in the wall of the city. When some men of Jericho came looking to kill them, she hid the spies and sent the pursuers in the wrong direction. Rahab had heard of God’s power, and she had enough reverence to help Joshua’s men and to ask for God’s kindness:

    Joshua 2:11-13  ‘When we heard of it (God’s power), our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below. “Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them—and that you will save us from death.” ‘

    Rahab’s full story:

    Joshua 2 | NIV Bible – Bible App.

    Hebrews 11:31 “By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.”

    Rahab became an ancestor of Jesus!

    A Lesson:

    There has always been a wall that separates God’s presence from people. It is not made of stone or wood, but of sin. He loves each of us very dearly, and He wants us to know Him and feel Him near both on earth and in Heaven, so God made a way to remove the wall. He sacrificed His Son on the cross to pay the debt for our sins. Our “shout”, our “trumpet blast”, is admitting that we have sinned, turning away from it, and declaring Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Like Rahab, we can be saved.

    John 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

    John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that      whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

    Romans 10:9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

    We know there are other types of walls–barriers between ourselves and what is good–including pride, selfishness, comfort, and fear. I pray that we all look to God to destroy our walls.

  • Letters to God: A New Chapter

    Dear God,

    As this first year of retirement wraps up, I am filled with gratitude for Your guidance to another new chapter in the book of my life. I thought I knew what I was supposed to be doing, but for the most part, I think my motives were off, and I was not serving others enough. The next pages leading to the right ending were written by You, the Author of life, of my life. I need only to ask for your direction, and I trust that the reveal of only one sentence or paragraph at a time is enough. I know that You will do “immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20).

    As we were singing in worship at church in early October, the young woman next to me touched my shoulder and said that You had spoken to her heart that I needed prayer. I was both amazed and taken aback at first, and I replied that I had been asking You for direction in the use of my time and talents in my retirement. Jenna prayed quietly for me amidst the music in the room. I thanked her and returned to singing in worship.

    Minutes later, You whispered to my heart, “Substitute teaching.”  Responding to my internal protest, You provided further confirmations:

    1. As Pastor Seth later wrapped up his message, he challenged us that following You, Jesus, often involves getting uncomfortable. Comfort is a tool of the Enemy. If You prompt us to do something difficult, we should do it, or we miss out on Your best.
    2. Four days later, Numbers 13 of Your Word spoke to me as I was reminded of the consequences of fear. The Israelites were prevented from entering the Promised Land due to their own fear of giants and fortified cities. (Only Joshua and Caleb wanted to proceed.) All the people wandered the wilderness for forty years. I get it! Faith over fear!

    An additional prompt: It’s been forty years since I was a teacher.

    I trust in Your plans and that You will work in ways at which I can only guess. You will overcome my concerns. God, You got me devoted to taking the steps to teach in a small local school district, and to find resources to help me make it a good day, an encouraging and educational day for students, when I fill in for their teacher.

    I plan on subbing just a couple of days a week, and with travels that will take me away at times, my availability is sometimes limited, but any difference You want me to make, anyone with whom You want me to connect, anything You want me to teach or to learn, Your timing will be perfect. I can see some “giants”, but even if Your purpose is for me to encourage one kid on one day, it will be enough. I trust You that in this new chapter, I don’t need to know the reason or what is on the next page.

    Proverbs 3:5-6. “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

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    Friends and readers, my new format of writing to God–instead of about God–is something that He drew me to in my writing, after weeks of not writing anything. I have been focused on preparing to teach, all the while wondering why I had lost my desire to write.

    My previous motivation to write was wrong. I got discouraged by low views and nearly zero likes in the blog. I meant to glorify God through developing my ideas, and He did help me along with my words, but feeling like I was wasting my time without many readers was really about myself.

    Writing to the One who blessed me with the gift of words and ideas prevents me (prayerfully) from writing and posting for the wrong reasons. I have also turned off the viewing of statistics.

    All that matters is glorifying God and enjoying what He has given me. Period.

    Have a blessed New Year!