— Chapter Twenty —
Those early morning commutes to my counselor’s office were grueling. At 6 A.M. when the sun was barely peeping over the trees, the beltway was already bumper-to-bumper. Horns blasted to speed up or move over, only to have to slam on their brakes several feet ahead. An accident-ready-to-happen was around every bend as racers drove with open throttles on their way to work.
But gridlock was this morning’s traffic report from the helicopter overhead. It never failed. The fender-bender was only a half-mile from where I was stopped. Annoyed, I inched my way along, knowing I would be late for my appointment.
Finally reaching the office, I poured a cup of coffee as I unwound from the frustrating trip. This beltway madness depicted my inner turmoil.
I opened my appointment by stating, “I know God has intervened on my behalf in the past, but what about now? There are no scheduled court dates. No unsuspecting phone calls. Nothing painful has happened recently. I seem to be intact. I don’t want to be misunderstood. I am thankful for all the things God has done for me, and I am aware of my basic needs He faithfully provides. My food, clothing, job and warm bed don’t go unnoticed. Even Jesus said in Matthew 6 that life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.”
After a few more ramblings, I finally got to the point I was trying to make. “What significance is there in my life now? I don’t want to race down life’s road only to find myself sitting in a gridlock one day and realizing that I’m headed toward nothing but nebulous insignificance.”
“Every day has significance,” my counselor advised. “Life has significance because of God. You see, God can come any time He chooses. And it is significant that, as of today, He has withheld His coming. Therefore, you have another day in which you might see how He has manifested Himself to you.”
I plopped my head back on the office wing chair and looked heavenward as I contemplated his answer. There was something convincingly powerful in that statement. I drove to work wondering how my life would be affected—no, changed—if I chose to look for God’s involvement in my life every day.
Five o’clock couldn’t have come sooner. Promptly I bounded for home anxious to develop my morning’s scribbled mental notes from my counseling appointment. With Bible and concordance opened on the kitchen table, I looked for examples of nebulous insignificance turned significant.
Ah-ha! Here’s one. The march around Jericho found in the Old Testament book of Joshua, chapter six. God had declared victory over this fortified city for His people if they would follow His simple, uncomplicated plan.
No battering rams were needed. No constructing catapults or piling up an arsenal of huge stones was necessary. No sophisticated war maneuvers were carried out in order to seize this city. It would be won by God’s strategy and men’s faith.
Those who lived behind Jericho’s thick walls must have thought it strange when the troops fell in line. The march was headed up by armed men, followed by seven priests carrying seven trumpets of rams’ horns, the ark of the Lord, and the rear guard.
“You shall march around the city, all the men of war circling the city once. You shall do so for six days,” God had said. “On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.” Then Joshua gave God’s final order to his troops: “You shall not shout, nor let your voice be heard, nor let a word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I tell you, ‘Shout!’ Then you shall shout!” (Joshua 6:10).
I tried to imagine what those warriors might have thought as they adjusted their armor or tightened the straps on their sandals.
Monday. “That’s it? Just walk and keep silent? What’s so significant about that?”
Tuesday. “I’m not used to doing nothing. We’re known throughout the region for our strength and victories! We don’t need weapons to break through? How bizarre!” Dust was all that stirred. Nothing else.
Wednesday. Perhaps those who lived within the walls climbed atop and shrieked profaned jeers and random bursts of laughter as they mocked the troops below.
Thursday. A somber cloud may have encircled the citizens of this fortified city. The eerie blasts from the rams’ horns combined with the monotonous sound of marching feet may have begun to send chills up their spines.
Friday. Five days had passed and the unnerving silence went unbroken. Only the sound of marching feet and the blasts from rams’ horns could be heard. Yet, nothing had happened.
Significant? My natural response, “Hardly.”
Saturday. The sixth day of marching once around the perimeter, just as God had commanded. No additional directives from the military officer. Silence. The single-most compelling command.
Significant?
Then came Sunday! “Finally!” the soldiers must have thought. “Yes! Seven times. Just as God has said!”
They obeyed God’s command to the fullest. With the blast of trumpets and the shout from the soldiers, that massive wall was reduced to rubble! Un-be-live-able! God’s supernatural power was displayed right before their eyes!
God!
Power!
Significant?
Absolutely!
How did God manifest Himself to them on Monday? Tuesday? Wednesday through Saturday? He gave them the courage to obey and the strength to carry out His resolute plan that demanded obedience with every step.
Every day wasn’t like the seventh. They had to keep on keeping on without another word from God. All they knew was that He had promised them victory.
Had they not marched, had they not been silent, had they marched for six days instead of seven, there would have been no celebration.
Each dusty impression left by the sandals of those obedient warriors showed incalculable significance. Little did they know when they fell in line in the pre-dawn hours on that first day that they were but a step away from seeing one of Gods’ fantastic miracles. Regardless of whether or not they agreed with His plan, questioned along the way, or feared the taunting from those within the walls, it was significant that with each stride they cast an indelible footprint in the concrete of obedience.
“Every day has significance” I wrote in my journal. “There is one more day in which I might see how God has manifested Himself to me.”
As I walk around the perimeter of my world, I don’t know how God will manifest Himself to me, but it was significant when I didn’t take lightly the Scripture, “…casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you” (I Peter 5:7b), before going to work last Tuesday. It softened the reprimand from one of my bosses.
The day I had my oil changed, a guy found a nail in the front right tire. I could have taken my car to any one of those speedy places, but I chose to take it to the garage close to work. It was God who pointed out the nail to the serviceman. That was significant.
As I started thumbing through my journal, I found more instances of what I used to consider inconsequential or insignificant; but they weren’t insignificant after all. They were indelible impressions left by God to show me that He had been intimately involved in my life. He had manifested Himself to me. Now I look for God in my world each day. For I, too, might be one step away from a fantastic miracle God has prepared for me!
How secure I have become each night as I pull down the covers and crawl into bed. With my head on my pillow, I snuggle under my blanket and smile. “Lord, I saw You in my world today!” Breathing deeply, near the edge of sleep, I wonder what tomorrow will bring.
“Whoever has my commandments and obeys them, he is the one who loves Me. He who loves Me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him, and show myself to him” (John 14:21 NIV).
Copyright 2001, 2004 Donna Christensen
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Published Online by: The Biblical Reader
www.biblicalreader.com