Conquering Your Jericho
Ian Revie
Learning to Let God Take the Fight
Life is changing. As many of you know, I recently made the decision to retire. It is not a complete retirement - I still consult one day a week for my previous company and a few others - but the rhythm of life has shifted beautifully. Now, Joy and I finally have the time to sit back, think, plan and execute our next adventure.
During my weekly consulting day, I spend quite a bit of time on the road. I have grown to love listening to the Old Testament while I drive, and recently, I have been immersed in the book of Joshua. I’ve always found hearing the Bible read aloud offers a fresh perspective, bringing out nuances I never quite noticed before.
Putting Old Battles to Bed
As I continue my consulting, many old feelings regarding my previous position and its unique challenges have resurfaced. I never realised how much my workplace had become a daily battlefield. However, looking at these situations through the lens of an outside consultant has helped me finally put most of them to bed.
This breakthrough didn’t happen without prayer and a deep commitment to let God handle it. For over ten years, I tried to hand these burdens over to Him, but I always ended up taking them back. Now, I can truly let them rest in His hands, and as a result, He is showing solutions to my current challenges with much greater clarity.
The Battle Plan
In the story, God speaks to Joshua with urgency:
“Look sharp now. I’ve already given Jericho to you, along with its king and its elite forces.”
(Joshua 6:2, MSG)
I think we all know the story but if not please read it in Joshua 6. To understand the scale of this miracle, you have to realize that the walls of Jericho were immense, wrapped around the city like a suit of armour, towering forty feet above the ground. Yet Joshua didn’t bring those walls down - God did. And He wants to do the same for you.
What is Your Jericho?
We all have a “Jericho”. This might be fear, anger, bitterness, or prejudice. It could be insecurity about the future, guilt over the past, or a tendency toward negativity, anxiety, over-analysis, and criticism.
Ultimately, your Jericho is any circumstance, attitude, or mindset that robs you of your joy, peace, or rest. Because it blocks your path to spiritual freedom, its walls must fall. As Joshua told the people's leaders:
“Pack your bags. In three days you will cross this Jordan River to enter and take the land God, your God, is giving you to possess.”
(Joshua 1:11, MSG)
The encouraging truth is that God has already declared you the victor. He didn’t tell Joshua to conquer the city in his own strength; He told him to receive the city that had already been handed over. The same applies to the challenges we face today.
Moving From Fight to Victory
My personal struggle has always been learning how to let God take over the fight - especially when He has already won it. I looked at the practicality of doing this, and used these four steps:
Receive your victory by faith - just as you originally received your salvation.
Speak victory - ensure your daily thoughts and words align with God’s promises.
Walk out your victory - don’t over do it, it takes time, take each day in turn - you’ve got to do the first thing first.
Lift your eyes - too often, we wait until we have exhausted all of our own strength trying to resolve our problems before we finally turn to God.
The Bible says while Joshua was near the city, he lifted his eyes and saw a man standing with a drawn sword (Joshua 5:13). When Joshua asked whose side he was on, he realised he was face-to-face with the commander of the Lord’s army.
It was only after Joshua lifted his eyes away from the massive walls of Jericho that this divine messenger appeared with the solution. As long as your eyes are glued strictly to your problem, you will completely miss the Problem Solver.
To find your strength, you have to look up.
“I look up to the mountains; does my strength come from mountains? No, my strength comes from God, who made heaven, and earth, and mountains.”
(Psalm 121:1-2, MSG)
