The last lap...?

I read a cool devotion this week. It was about Joshua and the battle of Jericho, a story I've read several times, sang songs about, and never really gave much thought. 

The author gave pause to a few things: "The Lord said to Joshua, 'See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands..." Catch that? Delivered=past tense. It was already done. All Joshua had to do was the next things God asked of him. "March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for 6 days...Have priests carry trumpets 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...have all the people give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse..." Wait--what?

God gave the promise--all Joshua had to do was obey, no matter how crazy it seemed. March? Blow horns? Then shout? And that will deliver Jericho to me? Um, okay...?

I did a little research on this. The town of Jericho was about 6 acres. I'm not sure how many miles around that may have been (I tried to Google convert all this but, well, I'm not great at that kind of stuff) but it probably didn't take all day. March around, blow some horns, do it again the next day. God said...

I wonder what Joshua and the others thought, though, marching around on, let's say, Day 3. "Are the stones moving at all?" "Do we see a crack anywhere?" "Do we feel a rumble or see a sway of rocks moving? No? Hmmm...is this really working???"

We know the rest of the story. On Day 7 they marched around 7 times. I can only assume that on lap 6.5 on the seventh day there must have been an increased focus on the wall, looking for a puff of dust that indicated a cracking, focused attention on the top stones that would surely start the impending collapse...? Where was it? Could it really happen? We did what the Lord said...Ending lap 7, a trumpet blast, a shout, and, WHAT!?!?!?!" the walls came a'tumblin' down. 

What promises of God are you waiting on to come to fruition? What do you believe He has already delivered that is requiring your obedience? A change in a financial situation? Years worth of prayers for a situation to change? Hope for a wayward child, husband, friend, etc. to return to the Lord?

Perhaps today is your last lap...Perhaps tomorrow is your last lap. God instructed Joshua to march around Jericho 13 times. Maybe, unbeknownst to you, your "Jericho", that fortress that seems impenetrable, requires 80 laps...137 laps...592 laps...

You could be on your last lap. Stay focused on what God has promised. Don't be distracted by the stones that aren't yet moving out of place, the rumbles of change you can't yet feel, or the jeering of the enemy as depicted in the picture at the top. Your last lap will come---He's already done it--all you need to do is obey.