[A Meditation on One Verse]

(Joshua 6:16) “The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the army, ‘Shout! For the LORD has given you the city!’”

Standing before the city of Jericho, Israel marches in silence for six days. The Lord spoke through Joshua, saying:

”Do not shout, do not raise your voices, do not say a word from your mouth.”

Let’s pause and think for a moment. How must those six days have felt to them? What were their steps like as they saw the city walls, with nothing happening? They continued this march even on the final seventh day as they circled the city six times. And then, on the seventh time, the command finally came:

”Shout!”

We focus on our surrounding situations and circumstances. And so, we get disappointed by what we see, we give up, and sometimes we judge and condemn. But God works in unseen places. Even the things we consider NG (Not Good), the Lord uses for His good.

Those who know this fact can wait. Because now is the time that God is bringing about His goodness (tov). So, we look forward to today. We look forward to the ‘today’ of shouting.

Let us begin our ‘today’ with this prayer of expectation.

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(Daily Reading)

– Joshua 6:8-24