His way God promised to give the land of Canaan to the Israelites. But for them to have it, they have to conquer all of its cities. The walled city of Jericho was the first city they need to take over. God gave it to them in a marvelous way. God charged Joshua to lead Israel’s men of war to march around the city of Jericho. He said they should do it once in a day. And they should do it silently for six days. On the seventh day, they should march around it for seven times. Then the priests should blow the trumpet as a signal to make a long and loud cry. When they did it, and after those great shouts were heard, the walls of the city fell down flat. (Joshua 6) Jericho looked so strong because of its walls. No one thought it would fall. If there were people who were watching them as they marched around, they might think of them as fools. But they are bound to be proven wrong. The fortified walls of Jericho fell down flat by the power of God. Hence it tells us that He fulfills His promises to His people in His own way. We may be thinking of ways that will lead to God’s answer to our requests. But He may choose to answer in a way that we do not expect. Often, He leaves us in great awe. We wonder how did He do it. And there are times that we do not notice that He already had answered our prayers. That is because we hold on to the mode we thought God would use to answer our prayers. Funny yet it’s true, we delay our response. We do not notice at once that He already had answered. Take this for instance. When Herod had Peter arrested and bound in prison, the believers prayed for him to be freed. The Bible said, “constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church.” (Acts 12:5) Those prayers led to Peter’s escape. An angel came to prison and woke him up. His chains fell off his hands. He went out and followed the angel. But he thought he was just seeing a vision. The iron gate that leads to the city opened to them. And when they went down one street, immediately the angel departed from him. Then Peter understood that it was an angel that helped him. So he came to a house where many were gathered together. And there they were still praying. When he knocked at the door of the gate, a girl came to answer. She recognized that it was Peter’s voice that she heard. Because she was too excited, she ran in and announced that Peter stood before the gate. She forgot to open the door for him! “But they said to her, ‘You are beside yourself!’ Yet she kept insisting that it was so. So they said, ‘It is his angel.’ “Now Peter continued knocking; and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished.” (vv. 15-16) Isn’t it funny that God places in front of us the very answer to our prayers but we still fail to take notice? One thing is sure. No matter how God answers our prayers, it should put us in awe. And we must have an eye for it. So that our joy may be complete. Reflection: 1. God is not in a box. Explain this thought. 2. Why do you at times fail to notice God’s answers to your prayers? What happens if you did fail? God moves in a way we find hard to imagine. (Isaiah 55 v 8-13)
Posted on: Tue, 02 Jul 2013 02:57:04 +0000
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