Hi Folks:
 
Its Wednesday, a little later than I normally put out OnFire, but as you know, things sometimes happen to slow down production. Here it is, however.
 
I think the maple sap experiment is over. Not a drop of sap last week. It was interesting while it lasted.
 
Jan is enjoying a needed break after substitute teaching for the last couple of weeks. She taught Monday, but now is not scheduled until next week.
 
Finally, we are thankful after an accident in my family. My uncle and cousin were cutting trees on their farm on PEI. The wind caught one and brought it down near my uncle. He was hit by branches, cracking a vertabrae in his neck. He is recovering in the hospital and will not be able to work for a while, but is doing well otherwise.
 
Today Joshua attacks Jericho by not attacking it.
 
-------------------------------
Joshua 6:2-5 Then the Lord said to Joshua, "See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams' horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have all the people give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the people will go up, every man straight in."*

God does things differently than we do. Regular military strategy would have the Hebrews cross the river and immediately proceed to Jericho, thereby enjoying momentum and surprise. But first, the men were circumcised as a sign of the covenant (Joshua 5:1ff.), making them vulnerable and open to attack until they healed.

Next, they celebrated the Passover to remember the crossing of the Red Sea 40 years earlier (Joshua 5:10ff.). Once again, we might think that they should go straight to Jericho to begin the seige.

Finally, God told them to march around the city and blow trumpets to make the walls collapse. True to his word, God made it happen. All of this was to show that God alone would give the victory.

It certainly wasn’t their mighty military machine. The young generation of Hebrews was not battle hardened.

It wasn’t their marching. Even thousands of people marching in step would not produce enough vibration in the ground to knock down walls.

It wasn’t their trumpet blowing. I’ve played trumpet since I was 12, and while it can be very loud, its not enough to bring down a wall. I’m sure my mother wondered. She used to ask me if there were headphones for it. We brass players loved to tease the woodwinds in our school band. It took 30 flutes and clarinets to equal 5 trumpets!

Let me get back to the point. Only God could make it all happen. Like we learned last week, God calls us to do things that sometimes appear crazy. Last week it was crossing the Jordan during the flood season. This week it was attacking a city without attacking it. Make sense? Hardly, but when God brings these things to pass, he makes it obvious that he is the one behind them.

I wonder how many times we miss a chance to see God do something incredible, perhaps even miraculous. We get an idea but before long we think, "I could never do that." Perhaps we get past ourselves and stir up the courage to tell others about it. But they shoot us down with those famous words, "You could never do that," or, "You’re crazy."

Whether we’re crazy is not the issue. I’m sure there were people who thought Joshua was crazy. The real issue is, "What does God want to do?"

We get stuck when we think its all up to us. If it is up to us, lots of things sound crazy. But if God is behind it, then what is impossible?

Hope this helps. Be OnFire.

Troy

ON FIRE is a weekly letter of encouragement by Troy Dennis. This letter published April 5, 2006.

*All scripture references from the New International Version, copyright 1973, 1978 by the International Bible Society.