‘Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days… On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.”’ (Joshua 6:2-5)

When we were children, my older brother had a large swivel desk-chair. One of our favourite activities was spinning our younger siblings as hard as we could on said chair, then laughing as they eventually tried to stand up and walk, clearly feeling disorientated from the relentless circling.

This memory makes me wonder how the Israelites felt, as they marched round Jericho again and again. Okay, there wouldn’t have been the same speed as our makeshift merry-go-round, but they must have been disorientated with the repetitiveness. I wonder did they pass the same sights of Jericho – the trees, the walls, the market stalls – and begin to lose count of the number of times they had passed them? Did they see the same confused faces each day and let doubt dilute their faith, like some form of spiritual osmosis? Did some in the army just stop marching – the humiliation and expectation too heavy to carry round and round?

Sometimes life can feel like being swivelled on a desk chair. The brokenness of this world can turn everything upside down and at times it can be hard to make sense of our surroundings. We live in a world where trusting for miracles is equated with delusion. We attempt to confidently walk through life, but we are weakened by our disorientation and doubt.

This is where discipleship is key. We have an opportunity to re-stabilise dizzy disciples of Jesus and encourage them to keep circling those walls!

Keep circling those walls

As I begin to settle into my stride this new year, I carry with me the disorientation of marching the same barricaded walls that I’ve been circling for years. As exhausting as this is, I am deeply grateful for those who have come alongside me to support my unsteady, shaky steps. They help me to keep moving forward, in faith that one day these walls will fall. They have been the Joshuas in my life, reminding me of truth and of the Lord who will fulfil his promises.

As we read this story in Joshua 6, it is easy to assume the miracle came through the marching. And, yes, obedience resulted in breakthrough, but the miracle originated with God’s promise to his people. I have been reading The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson, which says this:

‘Drawing prayer circles starts with identifying your Jericho. You’ve got to define the promises God wants you to stake claim to, the miracles God wants you to believe for and the dreams God wants you to pursue. Then you need to keep circling until God gives you what He wants and He will.’

Sometimes we go through Joshua seasons, where we are certain of breakthrough. In these times, we can come alongside someone else, believing the Lord’s promises over their lives and encouraging them to keep circling. Other times are marching seasons, where we are like the Israelites, marching in faith and hope that something will shift.

In both cases, we need to open our eyes and ears to the spiritual reality of our circumstances, choosing to believe that indeed those walls will fall. And how do we know this? Because every promise is ‘Yes’ and ‘Amen’ in Jesus (2 Corinthians 1:20).