Goodbye Old Town! Hello Jericho!

I started my career working for an audit firm in Chicago. I am from a mid-sized town in Ohio, and really had only left home for my one year of grad school in Indiana. So for me, it was the beginning of a whole new life. I was super excited about it. Then, one day before I was set to load up my red Pontiac Sunfire with all my junk, an obstacle appeared:

My roommate had to suddenly decline her offer with her firm, and she would NOT be moving to Chicago with me.

...but...I already signed the LEASE on a two bedroom, two bathroom apartment in Old Town. Right next to the El. It had pillars in it! High ceilings! Hardwood floors! A fireplace! I could not afford that apartment on my own. Not even close. Not even close! I had a few options: 

1. Give up. Don't go. Toledo is just fine. 
2. Break the lease. Pay the fees. But how? I'd paid the deposit. I wouldn't get paid for a month. 
3. Find a new roommate ASAP. 

These are all rational options. Even #1. I could have seen this event as an omen: it's just not meant to be.

this is not my car...but it looks like old Red!

The four-hour drive to Chicago was horrendous. I cried the whole way there. I cried so much that I had to pull over on the side of the road. I could barely breathe. My mom was with me. And I remember standing there weeping, with my hands on the hood of my car. And my mom had her hand on my shoulder, and I thought she would tell me to calm down or to suck it up. Something! But she just prayed. And when she was done...I felt better. I believed that everything would be okay. I'd love to tell you that something miraculous happened. Something amazing! But I don't think that it did. I can barely remember what happened except, I didn't go home to Ohio. I didn't break the lease. I only met crazy people on craigslist, so I didn't get a new roommate. I was simply let out of the lease and the roommate who bailed found me a new place to live with a friend of hers (from undergrad) in Wrigleyville.

Maybe it was a miracle. I didn't have to DO anything. I was let out of the lease, and someone else found my new apartment. None of my rational options came into play. 

Which leads me to The Walls of Jericho*:

By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. - Hebrews 11:30

The situation: After 40 years of wandering, it's time to take Canaan (the Promised Land). Jericho is the second obstacle. The first obstacle was crossing the Jordan River. It too was parted, but I guess since Moses already did that with the Red Sea, it doesn't get much play. But I digress. Jericho is an impregnable city with high, thick walls and they are on lockdown. Nobody in or out. 

Joshua has two military options: 

1. Starve the city 
2. Build a ramp over the wall

 These are both rational options. Both could (probably even would) work. But both would take months, and Israeli soldiers would die during that process. What to do?!

Well...they also had one incredibly irrational God option:

March silently around the city for six days. The only sound is to be from seven trumpets blown by seven priests. On the seventh day, circle around the city seven times and then shout! The walls will just crumble and we'll run in. 
...

Stitch is out of control; the lei stops him

Knowing me, when my mom got out of the car and prayed, she probably got a side-eye. But prayer is really calming. It's like when Lilo throws that lei over Stitch. It just drains away the stress. Likewise, when Joshua gave this plan to the army, he probably got TONS of side-eyes. The Jews, at this point, were notorious for grumbling and complaining, which is probably why Joshua commanded the people saying,  “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) Basically no one could say: "this is stupid..." because they'd already been commanded to be silent.  

There is major faith in being silent. In trusting God's plan, though you have no idea how it's going to work. And then there is major faith in shouting. Because when they shouted...the walls certainly came down and they took the city. After six days of silently waiting and trusting in the Lord, they had a faithful shout of victory!

And all of it was irrational! All of it seemed REALLY stupid. Super stupid. Like, I'm so glad I wasn't there. I probably would have been killed for complaining during the six days!

Faith like this is extremely difficult to a rational mind. To a mind that is not fully transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. We like to have faith in things that we think are possible. We like to have a sort of "rational faith," which is oxymoronic and nonexistent.

I have three takeaways from the crumbling walls of Jericho:

1. God's way is different from our way (Isaiah 55:8-9); I would have starved the city. 
2. God's way is beyond comprehension (Job 38:4-6); I still wonder if the walls were becoming weaker each day and then the shout was like a baby sonic boom that made it crumble...(still irrational, but better?)
3. There is an inextricable link between faith and obedience.

Only faith would make you silently march around that city. And only faith could open your mouth. Faith governs how you speak or don't speak in certain situations. Faith and trust robbed them of their ability to speak negatively. And faith and trust empowered them to shout out victory without even lifting their weapons.

Sigh. I'm not there yet. But I'm gonna be.


*Nothing in my life (so far) is comparable to knocking down the walls of an entire city with just the sound of my voice. This analogy is the best I could do. Deal with it.