Joshua 6:1  Now Jericho was shut up inside and outside because of the people of Israel. None went out, and none came in.

We like to get into the thick of the action, but let’s look back at what was happening prior to this point…

Now we come to Joshua 4. The people are ready…finally ready to take Jericho, ready to begin to take the land the Lord had promised them…so here comes the Lord’s command to Joshua. The men are poised for battle…Here it comes, right, the command to go…

Joshua 4:1  When all the nation had finished passing over the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, 2  “Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, 3  and command them…

“Ok. All right!” the people are thinking. “Good! Yes, we’re across Jordan now. Let’s get going. Jericho lies ahead! The promised land. It’s ours for the taking. Right? The LORD is surely giving us the go-ahead now to fight and battle. Joshua’s just getting the specifics now. Let’s go and hear what He’s told Joshua…”

So, what was it the LORD spoke to Joshua anyhow?

Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, and command them, saying, ‘Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests’ feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight…’

What? What? What?

“But, Joshua, but Lord, we’re ready to go here … We’re wasting time here moving these stones. We’re not here to move stones. We’re here to go into battle. We’re ready to take the land. You promised us the land, didn’t You? Isn’t it time for us to get to it?”

But, My people, You’re not ready! First of all, I want you to remember something…I want You to remember Me! This journey is ultimately not about you, or about the land, but it’s about Me and My glory and My renown. Who called you to be a people? Who makes you ready? Who tells you when it’s time to take the land? Who’s given you this land? Who’s been faithful to you all those years in the wilderness? Who delivered you from Egypt? Who caused you to walk across the Jordan on dry land? What did you do to get yourselves here? Did you cause the waters to stand up in a heap? Did you? Did you?!”

And he said to the people of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in times to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 22  then you shall let your children know, ‘Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground.’ 23  For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over, 24  so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, that you may fear the LORD your God forever.”

Just as the LORD did right at the beginning of Joshua, He reminds the people once more to keep Him central.

A few questions to ask now … and as you continue reading …

How often do we jump ahead into working for God and forget Him?

How often do we jump ahead into working for God and forget Whose mighty power redeemed us and made us His children?

How often do we jump ahead into working for God and forget to give Him thanks and praise to Him?

How often do we jump ahead into working for God and forget to pray to the mighty LORD?

How often do we jump ahead into working for God and forget His promises to us?

How often do we jump ahead into working for God and forget His presence goes with us?

How often do we jump ahead into working for God and forget in Whose mighty power we are working?

How often do we jump ahead into working for God and not go into our rooms and shut the door so we might rely on Him and His power?

Can we really say we are really working for God if we have not remembered Him?

Can we really expect the shut up cities of Jericho if we have not kept Him central?

(Isn’t it true that much of the battle is done in prayer itself?)

All right, we’re now to Joshua 5. The memorial stones are set up at the end of Joshua 4.

All Israel is across the Jordan, camped on the east side of Jericho. Certainly it’s time to take the land, right? Time to invade Jericho, right? After all, we see how the kings of the land were affected…

Joshua 5:1 …their hearts melted and there was no longer any spirit in them because of the people of Israel.

Just as God had promised. It was time to go, right?

Now what does the Lord command Joshua to do at this point?

“Make flint knives…”

“Ok. Right. We can use more weapons. Fine. Sounds good to us. We certainly know the LORD knows what’s He’s doing…”

2  At that time the LORD said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel a second time.”

“What? What? What?” *understandable grimacing, wincing, assorted murmuring and grunting sounds…expletives…so on and so forth…*

Certainly this makes no sense at all to us.

First off, the Canaanite kings are back on their heels because of the word they heard about the LORD’s workings on behalf of Israel. Israel had a great psychological advantage here, why not take advantage of it?

Second of all, I’m not a man, but I’d have to say that being freshly circumcised doesn’t exactly leave you in prime position for battle, does it? And not only that, but it would leave not only you but also your wives and children vulnerable to attack.

The circumcision could wait, couldn’t it? Until after the taking of Jericho at any rate, or, even better, after all the land is taken. Then Israel would be in a strategically safer position.

Of course, the Lord’s ways are higher than ours. His wisdom seems foolishness. Our weakness is opportunity for His strength. And all these things add up to make for His maximum glory as the story unfolds.

A little more about circumcision. Let’s remember that the Old Testament circumcision is a picture of the New Testament circumcision of the heart, the circumcision made without hands (Col. 2) by the Holy Spirit. It’s the reminder that in and of ourselves we are nothing. A reminder that we come to Christ with nothing and we can do nothing apart from Christ…ever…Nothing!

The sexual organ is central here. God’s saying something like this to Israel (and to us):

So, Joshua circumcises the Israelite men as the LORD commanded. They’re all rendered helpless just as they’re about to battle for Jericho. Physically helpless. Psychologically helpless. This is a perfect picture of our spiritual inability, isn’t it?

God had the twelve memorial stones set up and the circumcision done all so Israel might keep the LORD central, to remember He is the LORD God alone and deliverance comes through Him and Him alone.

Today as Christians we have the circumcision not made with hands, through the Holy Spirit. We have only come into the family of God and we only remain in the family of God and we can only walk in the works God’s ordained for us through the Holy Spirit of God, all to the glory of God alone. But how often do we grieve and quench the Spirit by forgetting God’s mighty power and His past workings in our lives and the life of His people throughout history? We are so tempted to walk in the flesh. How often do we foolishly expect to accomplish in our power what is only possible in the power of God?

O, that we would remember God’s mighty power to save and our utter helplessness. That we might make Him preeminent in all we do. We get into trouble whenever we think we are sufficient in and of ourselves, don’t we? Christ is to be our life. Our life. Not just an appendage. He is to be our all in all. We have no life apart from Him. We can bear no fruit apart from Him. We can do nothing without Him.

The Lord also reminds Israel here that He was the one who rolled away the reproach of Gilgal. Gilgal was that place where Israel was first ready to enter the promised land years before, and now God brought them back once more to the very place where they failed to trust God’s promises and shrunk back in disobedience and ended up wandering in the wilderness for forty years. But here we see God’s graciousness. He’s rolled away their reproach. They could do nothing, yet He graciously brought them back and brought them into the Promised Land in spite of their distrust and disobedience. Praise God that His Grace to us in Jesus Christ is greater than our sin! All day long He reaches His hands out to us!

Finally, one more tangible reminder of God’s perfect provision for Israel:

10  While the people of Israel were encamped at Gilgal, they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening on the plains of Jericho. 11  And the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. 12  And the manna ceased the day after they ate of the produce of the land. And there was no longer manna for the people of Israel, but they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year. 

On that very day…Hmm…Timely coincidence? No! Loving Providence!

All right, so there they are, the nation of Israel, the men all having been circumcised, given time for healing. In the eyes of the uncircumcised world, they’re sitting ducks, are they not? Yet we see how the Lord miraculously protected and provided for them there. Let’s never doubt Him when He puts us into such vulnerable positions, when we are at the end of our own earthly strength and supplies. We can trust Him to provide for us in His perfect way and time.

Finally, just in case Joshua and Israel still didn’t get it, that is, if they still didn’t understand their total dependence on the LORD, there’s something else – that interesting encounter Joshua has at the end of chapter 5 with the LORD Himself:

13  When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” 14  And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the LORD. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” 15  And the commander of the LORD’s army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

Yes, I guess Joshua did just that, wouldn’t you?! (How do you manage to take off sandals when you’re already lying flat in the dust anyhow?)

Not only do the people as a whole need reminders of their insufficiency, but God’s leaders do as well, and probably more so and more often. As soon as we are given any responsibility, we often let that go to our heads and forget that it is LORD alone who has placed us there.

So, Karen, who’s in charge here, you or Me? Don’t forget, I’m the commander of the army here…You are My servant. Don’t let this go to your head.

*gulp* *prostrating* *taking off sandals* “Yes, Lord. Remind me, Holy Father, I will forget…You know how often I allow the pride of life to carry me away from the meek and humble spirit of Your blessed Son Jesus. Keep me in Your easy yoke. Help me to learn of You, Lord Jesus.”

Who are we that God chose us to save us from hell in the first place? Who are we that He commissions each of us to be His ambassadors here in His Kingdom work? Who are we? Brands plucked out of the fire! Unworthy and unprofitable servants? O, would that we might have David’s humble attitude (II Samuel 7):

“Who am I, O Lord GOD, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far?…”

Like the disciples, we too quickly become full of ourselves, rather than being filled with the Spirit, we become puffed up and begin to lord it over others and jockey for position and forget that to be great in the Kingdom we are to be servants of all, to wash feet, to lay down our lives for our friends…

Now we’ve finally gotten to Joshua 6.

Joshua 6:1 Now Jericho was shut up inside and outside because of the people of Israel. None went out, and none came in.And the LORD said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valor…”

The people are probably thinking once again,

“Ok! All right! The Lord has given Jericho into our hand…yes, and hear what He’s saying there: He’s including the king and the mighty men of valor. Victory is ours! Resistance is futile! Let’s roll! Let’s get ready for battle…”

So, just to make it clear that God really means business about our being wholly dependent on His plan and His ways, we see His plan for action to take Jericho in chapter 6 involved a bit more waiting…

God seems to like to have His people wait doesn’t He? Most of us don’t do waiting very well, do we? No wonder patience and self-control are included as part of the fruit of the Spirit! God orchestrates circumstances so we might rely on Him and no longer on ourselves: it’s all about His timing, His ways, His power, His provision. He calls the shots, we do not! Man proposes, God disposes!

So Israel has encountered what they might view as another delay: they’re told to march around the city.

“Ok. We can do that. One time around and then we’re in! Yesssss! –– What? You say not just once. How many times? How long? Six days. What sense does that really make? We’re ready to go here?”

You can imagine that the men might be pretty antsy at this point. They’ve been sitting around healing after the circumcisions. And now…testosterone rising much? Notice these men are “all the men of war.” Men of war.  War. They’re geared to fight and take the city. But what does God have them do? March. And march. And march…

What kind of work is this marching around the city for men of war? Well, it’s the same work we ought to be doing as we prepare for battle. We are in a spiritual battle, are we not? But how often do we try to fight it with the weapons of this world? How often do we try to fight apart from marching, for example, how do we attempt to fight apart from the all-important and vital preparatory prayer work. How often do we rush to make a frontal attack when we see the city shut up and those tall walls of Jericho when instead we ought to be rushing off and and shutting the door to our closet and dropping to our knees where we might plead with God for souls and march around the hearts that are shut up around all around us to the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

We are all so tempted to do, do, do. We are all so wanting to work, work, work, aren’t we? To speak, to write, to act. We ache to do just about anything but pray. May our Savior who ever lives to intercede for us grant us abundant grace to march around those shut up cities in the ministry of prayer, to tarry with Him regularly at the throne of grace.

Once again I’ll bring you the questions I included earlier…

How often do we jump ahead into working for God and forget Him?

How often do we jump ahead into working for God and forget Whose mighty power redeemed us and made us His children?

How often do we jump ahead into working for God and forget to give Him thanks and praise to Him?

How often do we jump ahead into working for God and forget to pray to the mighty LORD?

How often do we jump ahead into working for God and forget His promises to us?

How often do we jump ahead into working for God and forget His presence goes with us?

How often do we jump ahead into working for God and forget in Whose mighty power we are working?

How often do we jump ahead into working for God and not go into our rooms and shut the door so we might rely on Him and His power?

Can we really say we are really working for God if we have not remembered Him?

Can we really expect the shut up cities of Jericho if we have not kept Him central?

(Isn’t it true that much of the battle is done in prayer itself?)

As we reflect on the journey to Jericho, may we remember that God’s ways and thoughts are higher than ours, that His plans are all for His maximum glory and His intent is to keep us ever mindful that all we have and all we can do is through His power and might alone, not through us. May He give us patience to wait on Him, to rely on Him, to pray to Him, to follow His plans, for when we are weak, He is strong, and His foolishness is wiser than the wisdom of men! Amen and Amen.

Psalm 115:1 Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory,
for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!

In what current situation are you struggling to trust and rely on Lord?

Related:

• “After the death of Moses” ~ will you obey God’s command to arise, go?
• prayer and closed doors
• “ALL public work must be subservient to my prayer work.” (Evan Roberts)

Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

I mentioned last week I’ve been reading through “An Instrument of Revival: The Complete Life of Evan Roberts, 1878-1951″ (Brynmor Pierce Jones, Bridge Publishing: South Plainfield, NJ, 1995) (see my post here). Evan Roberts was used by God in the Welsh Revival of 1904-05, but afterwards suffered a breakdown after which he went into private intercessory prayer ministry for several years…

     …Evan Roberts continually stressed the need to persevere: “In Luke it does not say, ‘preach and faint not’ but, ‘pray and faint not.’ It is not difficult to preach. But while you pray, you are alone in some solitary place, fighting in a prayer-battle against the powers of darkness. And you will know the secret of victor.” The idea is echoed in one of his poems:

And never faint! Oh pray, full on and fast.
Rough though the untrod way. Straight on! and last.
And never faint, though those may rave for rest.
The goal, not thee, is first. Pray one! thou blest.

And never faint! Though strain may sigh thee down.
Pray on! if thou wouldst fain have on the crown.
And never faint! The end thou mayest not view.
When bound, let nought thee bend. Press on anew.

And never faint! Thy charge to God given o’er.
Pray on! Thy tent enlarge. Enrich thy store.
And never faint! Pray on each day with care.
Strive for, till thou hast won, the answered prayer.

I could not give up my time to India without neglecting my prayer work and feeling I am behind in my prayer service, and that possibly some victory is lost through my negligence. When the [crisis] of the church is through I shall be free for public work. ALL public work must be subservient to my prayer work.

(192-193)

* * *

Heavenly Father, I confess I so often put public work first, rather than making it subservient to my prayer work. It is so much easier for me to teach, to speak and to write than it is for me to pray. I want to produce something. I want to have some visible result I can point to. I want to have some visible result others can point to. My ministry for You becomes more about me than more about You…and then it is really no longer ministry, is it? Forgive me, Lord. Cleanse me from my sin.

My attitude towards prayer shows how prideful and selfish I am. If I were truly Your humble servant, if You were truly my Lord, I would be willing, not only willing, but rejoicing with great joy to go into my closet and never again return to public work, if that were Your will for me. Should it not be a joy to commune with You in prayer? Is not fullness of joy to be found in Your presence? Are not pleasures forevermore at Your right hand? O, and the worse thing is that You have allowed me to begin to taste and see the joy it is to tarry at the throne of grace. Forgive Me, Lord, for seeking to find my joy in my public work for You rather than my joy in You alone in that solitary place. O, Lord, how much more brutish since I have tasted and seen…Cleanse me from my sin.

I confess how I still do not yet really comprehend the vital importance of the work of prayer. If we are to expect power and anointing in public ministry we must be seeking Your face in secret. Teach me, O Lord. Truly the fervent effectual prayer of a righteous man avails much. Truly our laboring in prayer allows the saints to stand perfect and complete in Your will. Truly the warfare must go on every hour. Truly I ought to be praying day and night. Forgive me, Lord, for not being vigilant in prayer.

Jesus Christ, You are my great High Priest. You ever live to intercede for me. How little I really understand the preciousness and treasure of prayer. Pour out on me that spirit of grace and supplications that fills You, so I might delight to linger for hours at the right hand of our Father as You do. I am part of Your holy priesthood which means not only giving out Your Word to Your people but also going to the throne of grace on their behalf.

You hung on the cross so I might enter into the Holy of Holies and yet I confess how little I do so. Forgive me, Lord. Circumcise my heart, teach me more of the joy of prayer and sweet communion with You. Yes, You have been graciously teaching me of these things, but I am slow to learn. Thank You that You are longsuffering with me.

Loving Father, I was once not Your child but You have made me Your child by grace through faith. You have given to me the glorious Spirit of adoption. Your Spirit now dwells in me and calls out from within me, “Abba, Father!” O, how I grieve Him when I do not take that time to come into Your house. I thank You and praise You for disciplining me yesterday, for taking hold of my spirit and shutting me away in my closet. O, shut me away with You whenever You will have me there. O, shut me away with You when I insist on skipping that time in the closet or short-changing it. Draw me to Your throne of grace with Your cords of love. Compel and constrain me to that altar of prayer. I am not my own. I am Yours to do with as You will. Can the clay command the Potter? O, I marvel that You have shown me the joy unspeakable in prayer, as I have sat at Your feet and tarried in prayer. Yes, my life is to be a life of continuing prayer – as Paul said, we are to pray without ceasing. However, we also must have those extended times of prayer as well. Help me not to leave that closet a moment sooner than You wish. May I not be negligent. Take hold of my spirit! I am prone to wander. As I begin to wander, turn me and I will be turned. Humble me and I will kneel. Psalm 116. I love You, Lord. Help me to love You more. Amen.

Most of us are familiar with the events of Numbers 20 at Kadesh. The Israelites were whining and murmuring (once again) because there was no water.

We can see here that Moses started out well…He and Aaron headed straight to the tent of meeting and fell on their faces before the LORD in prayer. The glory of the LORD appeared. The LORD gave them clear directions. But then what happened?

Hmm…Moses didn’t finish so well there, did he?

I can see myself in that. I start off well and for various reasons don’t always end up finishing well. My flesh takes over…

I also know I’ve had times I’ve been tempted at times to hit the rock, when I was only to speak to it.
I must say I have spoken to the rock when I’ve only been supposed to speak to it.
I lost patience and did not trust God to work in His way and in His time.
I reaped what I’ve sown.

I know I’ve been tempted in recent days to hit the rock, when I’m only supposed to speak to it.
I know how easy it would be to hit the rock. Too easy.
I’ve been close to hitting it…very close…too close.
I’m in danger of losing patience and not trusting God to work in His way and in His time.
LORD God, guard my mouth, hold my hand back. Help me to trust You to work in Your way and Your time.
Help me to be obedient to Your commandments.

(That’s not my main emphasis today here, yet these are things I’ve been struggling with once again, so I’m including them here…)

We know the rest of Moses’ story. Because Moses struck the rock twice instead of speaking to it, God spoke these words to Moses:

Any time we don’t do things in God’s prescribed way, the LORD is not hallowed and there will be consequences for that…Yes, God is gracious to us, and He uses all things (even our sins) for our good and His glory, yet it is true that we will reap what we sow, and, as a result, there may very well be dire consequences (e.g.- consider David’s sin with Bathsheba and the ensuing cover-up).

If we stopped right there and focused on the fact that Moses wasn’t able to lead Israel into the promised land, not even to put a foot there, this would be a very depressing story…(Yes, I know Moses ended up there at the Transfiguration…)

I know if I were Moses I would be tempted to say, “Ok, LORD, that’s enough. If I can’t get into the promised land, why bother?” (self-centered much?)

I will confess to you that my promised land is revival coming to the Church. And I can too easily make that an idol.

If I knew I would never see revival come in my lifetime, I know I would be tempted to say, “Ok, LORD, that’s enough. If I’m not going to see revival, why bother? Why bother if I won’t get to cross over Jordan?”

(Yes, I know Moses did pray to the Lord about his not being able to go into the promised land in Deut. 3, see more below.)

However, that’s not the attitude we see in Moses after Kadesh. After his disobedience in hitting the rock, in spite of the LORD’s clear proclamation that Moses would not be going into the promised land, we find Moses picking up in obedience to the LORD’s commands.

Here are a few instances. (You can go and read the surrounding context of each.)

(I’d just like to note that this pattern of obedience is only a continuation of Moses’ previous obedience to the LORD prior to hitting the rock at Kadesh. From the day at the burning bush (yes, granted, there were some questions then, I know…), to speaking to Aaron, to the encounters with Pharaoh, to the preparations for the Passover, to the Exodus from Egypt, to the Red Sea, to Marah, to Massah and Meribah, to Mt. Sinai, to the golden calf, to the tabernacle preparations, to the priestly garments, to disciplining the rebellious…which really hit close to home, his own sister Miriam, brother Aaron and nephews Nadab and Abihu, and so on…)

As we look at those verses above, we can see that Moses’ obedience doesn’t just involve Moses, but also involves other people and very often the whole nation of Israel. What would have happened if Moses just decided to chuck it?

Though our obedience always has implications, let’s consider what would have happened to those countless other souls if Moses hadn’t obeyed as God commanded. We certainly must be humbled and sobered when we consider the wide-reaching and long-term implications of our disobedience (and obedience).

Among God’s commands after Moses’ disobedience at Kadesh, there are a couple I find really challenging.

First is the command of the Lord to Moses to strip his deceased brother Aaron of his garments and put them on Aaron’s son Eleazar. Miriam had died not long before the incident at Kadesh and now Aaron dies. How devastating would that be?

Yet what was Moses’ response?

Second is the command to Moses to commission his successor, Joshua:

Moses’ response?

Moses did as the LORD commanded.

Um, yeah, I admit I’d have a tough time with that one. Well, I don’t think it wouldn’t be that bad if I knew I was going to enter into the promised land…But Moses wasn’t going, the LORD had made that clear – yet we see no hint of resentment or jealousy in Moses.

The LORD said it and Moses did it.

Will I? Will it be said of me:

I confess I still don’t have that kind of heart, or the heart of John the Baptist (well, really the heart of Jesus…Philippians 2…):

But am I, a servant of the LORD, to dictate to the LORD the terms of my service to Him?

I am praying God might circumcise my heart to do as He commands. May He give me sufficient grace when He places me in such situations. I am praying His Spirit might work in me so I might not be jealous but rather joyful, that I might be rejoicing rather than resenting…and I might willingly submit myself to serve the LORD however and wherever the He commands. I am praying my joy might be complete as I see others increase as I decrease.

As I was in my car today, I drove near the workplace of a friend who works because she has to; she would relish to be in my position. I don’t have to work outside the home; my husband has been so gracious and generous to me, and our God has been so gracious and generous to us in providing for all our needs and far beyond that. So as I considered that, God hit me with His divine 2 x 4, and I began to come to my senses and cry out (once again):

So what else would I rather be doing with my time than studying and teaching and blogging the Word of God and praying for revival?
What else is more wonderful?
Who else is more wonderful than You, Lord?
Don’t let me squander this opportunity You’ve given me!
Don’t let me waste my life!
Help me to finish well like Moses did!

These things have been weighing on my mind because of an account I recently read of Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ (ML-J) last days. This is in part what led to write the following in my last update:

I also have some things I’ve been contemplating about ministry which at first I found daunting, but God has allowed me to settle in and trust Him in those and ponder them in my heart for the time being and trust Him to show me what I need to know when I need to know it and to know that He never gives us more than He equips us to do.

Here’s Iain Murray writing of a conversation he had with ML-J less than a month before his death (“The Fight of Faith,” 773):

I scarcely ever recall ML-J drawing any parallel between his own ministry and that of any Christian figure of a past age. But one parallel which he did draw in conversation on February 5, 1981 is a striking illustration of what was uppermost in his heart. ‘I feel in many way,’ he said, ‘like Griffith Jones of  Llanddowror.’ The man to whom he hoped to possess a resemblance was a little-remembered figure, born in Carmarthenshire in 1683 and significant not so much for what he achieved as for what he did in preparing the way for others. Griffith Jones was ‘the morning star’ of the great awakening of the eighteenth century in Wales, the forerunner of the better-known men who were to follow. The comparison tells us a great deal. Dr Lloyd-Jones had yearned for something in his own day which, when he spoke these words, he knew he was not going to be permitted to see. But his mind was not on the question of how posterity would remember him, it was on the success of the gospel. I responded, ‘As you have often said, God’s calendar is not ours’, but, only half-hearing me, he went on: ‘I never thought it was going to take so long. I thought I was going to see great revival but I am not complaining. It wasn’t God’s time and this preparatory work had to be done.’ If he could die believing that he had been permitted to do something to prepare the way for better men and greater days, that was enough.

I read these words and started to weep. I’ve only had a burden for revival for just over a year and I’m already impatient…yet the Doctor had such a burden for years. As I read and listen to his sermons on revival, I sometimes cry; he’d even seen some revival in his first pastorate in Wales during the early 1930′s, but then nothing after that on any large scale, but he longed for more since he’d experienced first-hand in that congregation and in his own life. He was so burdened to see revival come to the Church because he saw the ruins. God has opened my eyes to those ruins and I am now burdened to see revival come in much the same way.

Like ML-J I am yearning for something because I’ve had a taste of it in my own life and have seen that in the lives of a few others. I don’t yet know if I’ll see wide scale revival in my lifetime. I’m over fifty now; I don’t know how many years I have left here, I don’t know when or if the Lord might choose to come down from on high with power to revive the Church. I don’t know when He might return to take us home. But I do know (and I’ve already known this deep down for a while now) that part of my ministry is a preparation ministry. When I read those words, they were hard for me to swallow because that was a reminder to me that I must have the grace to step aside and commission the Joshuas who are younger to take up the work, and I may very well not be allowed to cross over Jordan.

We see the account of Moses’ conversation with the LORD in Deuteronomy 3:23-36…Moses knew God was great and mighty, so he prayed he might be able to cross over Jordan.

26  But the LORD was angry with me because of you and would not listen to me. And the LORD said to me, ‘Enough from you; do not speak to me of this matter again. 27  Go up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes westward and northward and southward and eastward, and look at it with your eyes, for you shall not go over this Jordan. 28  But charge Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he shall go over at the head of this people, and he shall put them in possession of the land that you shall see.’

That’s serious stuff. The LORD was clear there.

I can’t ever demand I get to cross over Jordan, but only trust God’s goodness to me and to know He will not withhold from me anything good. If it is good for me to cross over Jordan, to see revival in my lifetime, I will see it.

My first concern must be with the glory of God and the success of the Gospel.

I will say that I know there are some Joshuas out there, and I get teary-eyed now as I think of them and mention that now. I am praying for many young people who don’t even know I’m praying for them. I don’t know what will come out of that, but as God directs me, I’m continuing to pray for them. I thank God for those young men and women, and I pray God give me the grace to minister with perseverance until my final breath, knowing full well I am doing preparatory work for the Lord to come. May God give me the grace to persevere, to plant and water the seeds God gives me, even though I may not see much of the harvest in this lifetime. Yes, I confess that I would love to see wide-spread revival, I would love to go over the Jordan into the promised land, but if that is not the Lord’s will for me, may I persevere in obedience until the very end, like Moses. So long as the LORD gives me breath may I cry out:

Isaiah 40
3  …“In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4  Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
5  And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

May it be said of me:
 

Karen did as the LORD commanded.

May it be said of all of us:

We did as the LORD commanded.

If I can die believing that I have been permitted to do something to prepare the way for better men and greater days, may that be enough for me!