God uses the foolish things of the world to shame the wise!

If Joshua didn't think the instructions were odd and unusual, surely the Israelites questioned the very specific directions given by God...

The LORD said to Joshua, "See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the valiant warriors. You shall march around the city, all the men of war circling the city once. You shall do so for six days. Also seven priests shall carry seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark; then on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times , and the priests shall blow the trumpets. It shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people will go up every man straight ahead." Joshua 6:2-5

When our new friend, Julia, informed us that she actually wanted our place and didn't want to call because she thought she would cry, we knew the news would not be good. It turned out that the ruling was split between the girls and we lost the majority decision. It would be an understatement to say that we were disappointed. Why does God seemingly give such hope only to seemingly remove it? Well, Joshua might have asked, "Why does God lead us for 40 years in the desert only to have us win the promised land this way?" I mean, come on! March around the walls seven times and on the seventh day, we're just going to blow some trumpets and You say the walls are going to just fall down? Oh come on Lord. And You want me to have faith? It's not as if we haven't been struggling a bit out here in this desert wasteland.

But God's ways are above our ways. His thoughts above our thoughts. And He uses the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. In fact, that's one of the precious verses God used to make it clear that He could call even "us" to a life of full-time ministry. We couldn't see how He could use us but just as it wasn't about our ability, it isn't about us. It's about His glory. And once again, I think of how Jesus didn't go to Lazarus right away and the reason why. He was with Mary and Martha. Jesus knew that Lazarus, their brother and his good friend, was sick unto death. He knew that Lazarus' sisters were deeply concerned. But the Scripture says, "Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was" (John 11:5-6). What?

"When He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was!"

Why would Jesus do such a thing? The Lord reveals why in the verse just before this one (v4)...

"This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it"

We don't really know completely why God didn't make this situation work out with the girls. It seemed, from our perspective, as if God had perfectly working out His will in such a way that it would greatly glorify Him. The connections with Julia were amazing. However, apparently, He wanted to wait a few days longer, at the very least, so that He will receive greater glory!

And though in times like this, we're perplexed, we're never despairing...weighed down in our spirits, but never destroyed...hurt but never crushed. Why? Because though we clearly do not know what the future holds, we do know WHO holds the future in His hands.

JEHOVAH JIREH, OUR PROVIDER!

Please praise God with us that if even when we lack faith, God remains faithful for He cannot deny His nature (2 Tim 2:13).