By Akinlaja Judah
... A HOPELESS SITUATION
The wall of Jericho was an obstacle to any army that was trying to overtake the city.
Before even dealing with wall, the attacking troops will have to navigate their way across a 27ft wide, 9ft deep pit that line the outer edges of the city, then is the wall itself 17ft high 54ft pure mass of solid stone. If an attacking army manage to get this far without being shot down by archers, all that was left was to defeat the well trained Canaanite Army that was waiting within.
This was the reality for a young leader named Joshua and his Rag-tag Israelite army.
This Israelite who it seems an entire generation live and die were wandering through the desert were tired hungry and facing what seems like an impossible task, an hopeless situation.
Now i haven't lived very long but I've lived long enough to know these that running into walls is a part of life and the bigger the wall the more hopeless the situation can seem.
A large wall of sickness, loss, Divorce, Addiction. They pop-up all around us and they seem impenetrable.
And just like the wall of Jericho, these walls rarely stand alone. The walls of our life are often accompanied by a deep pit of pain, suffering and despair and all the while an Army of hopelessness attacks us on every side.
The question is asked all the time, "if God loves us so much and is so powerful then how could he allow the walls to pop up around me.
Now i don't pretend to have an answer of turning you those questions nor do i pretend to understand how deep or dark your suffering has been. I simply wanna suggest maybe God does his best work from seemingly hopeless situations.
When i read the bible i read about people and characters all who faced seemingly hopeless situation, in-fact i cannot find a single person who walked faithfully with God without first facing a hopeless situation.
Adam and eve ruined paradise inviting sin and death into our perfect world A hopeless case, Joseph was betrayed by his brothers for his pride and put in prison, a hopeless case. Mosses was cornered on the banks of the red sea with the most powerful army in the world breathing down his neck a hopeless case. Gideon was 300 against 300,000 , David stood across the valley from a blood thirsty giant, Esther was a woman trying to gain a word with a prideful king, Daniels roomate was a lion, his friends were thrown in an oven, Jonah ran from his duty and got stalked in a whale 🐳, Peter was a coward, Paul was imprisoned, the 5000 had no food, lazarus was dead, Timothy was too young 👶, Abraham was too old 👴, the youngest son was too stupid, the walls of Jericho were too strong and Jesus was humiliated, hung on a cross and buried in a tomb, bearing all hope of the revolution that was hoped for, for thousand of years. Now everybody was ready to close the page on the book of his stories, The end, game over.
But if there's one thing we learn from the scripture is that we can never place a period or full stop where God has placed a comma because when other options had been worn out when circumstances couldn't get worse when everything else has failed, get ready because that is exactly where God shows up because Joseph became second in command , the red sea parted, Gideon won without lifting a weapon, Goliath's head was on a plate, Esther spoke and the king listened, Daniel tamed the lion, the oven was just like a room temperature, Jonah preached and Nineveh repented, Peter became the rock, Paul rejoiced, twelve basket foods were left over, Lazarus was just kidding, Timothy built a church, Abraham built a family, The youngest son came home to a party, the walls of Jericho came tumbling to the ground and Jesus Christ showed us a resurrection defeating sin and death an the creation that has been lost for so many years ago was now restored for all time With God, what seems like an hopeless situation is not only possible its favorable because only God can turn a mess into a message, only God can turn a trial into a triumph a test into a testimony and a victim into a victory, his power is made perfect in weakness so let us rejoice in our trials and hold on swervingly to the hope we profess because he who promised is faithful, was faithful and will always be faithful no matter how hopeless the situation.
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