But this is JERICHO!

The Israelites must have really annoyed God. I mean, how many miracles needed to be done in order for them to finally stop complaining and worrying and just to trust and believe?

There was no chance that they would ever get out of Egypt. But God worked, and they were released. But then, Pharaoh changed his mind and now the Israelites were trapped between his army and the Red Sea! Jeepers, they all thought, why didn't we just stay put? At least we were alive in Egypt, better than dead in the desert!

Wait, what??? So, God performs all sorts of miracles that basically proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is in control, he gets them released from slavery, and just a few days later they have all forgotten and want to go back! But, God in his infinite patience and wisdom, parts the Red Sea, lets the Israelites cross on dry land, and then drowns Pharaoh's army. Wow! Ok, if you didn't believe before, you sure would now, right? Right?

Well, fast forward a few years, decades even. Now the Israelites are standing at the door to the Promise Land, Jericho. And what do they do? They whine and complain, we cannot defeat these people! We should've stayed in Egypt! At least we were alive in Egypt, better than dead in the desert!

Wow, these people were so thick headed! How on earth could they forget the countless miracles that God gave them? How could they forget the daily and nightly provisions God gave them for sustenance? How could they forget?

How on earth can we forget?

Are we really all that different from those Israelites? Are we really any different at all? You're broke and can't afford food, has God never provided for you before? Your child is in sick in the hospital, has God never taken care of you and yours before? Your vehicle has broken down again and you just do not have the time or money to get it fixed, so how on earth will you get to work? Has God never stepped in before?

Why do we forget? Type that phrase into your favorite search engine online and see what comes up. You get link after link of studies and research and ways to improve your memory. Better organization, more imagination, less this more that... But, regardless of this data, we still forget.

Anyone who has lost a loved one, or even a pet, can attest to the fact that once that person or pet is gone, you quickly start to forget the headaches and annoyances they had, but you hold fast to the good traits, the joy they brought, the happy experiences. Things never seem as bad as they really were.

Why does the brain do this? Well, I'm no scientist or surgeon, so I won't even attempt to give you a grand and well researched solution. However, in my limited 32 years of experience on this earth, I will say that something that is good will be remembered simply because we tend to "replay" that event more in our minds afterwards. Something that is bad, we will often try to stop thinking about it. Who wants to dwell on bad and negative events?

So what does all of this have to do with the Israelites? Well, every event they went through, and that we go through, seems insurmountable at the time. It is as if it is the biggest mountain we've seen yet. It is not necessarily the biggest mountain, but it seems that way. Why? Well, partly because we have forgotten how big the last struggle was, and really only recall the good times afterwards. The struggles we had quickly fade, and any new struggle that comes up seems so much bigger.

If God can free the Israelites from Egypt, is the Red Sea really that much harder? No. How about Jericho? God defeated Pharaoh's army, a world power. What is Jericho? But, when faced with the imminent danger that was Jericho, the people saw it as their biggest hurdle yet.

Just like the struggles you are facing now seem to you to be the biggest yet. Sure, God helped you through your own 'Red Sea' a few months or years ago, but this is different. This is worse. God was good then, but can he still be good today, in something much worse?

How annoying we are! Is it really that much worse? Even if it is, is God really that helpless that he can only help out in one situation, but not another because it is far worse? Are we really that faithless that we can even think of such a thing?

God is the same today, yesterday and forever. We say that, we hear it in church, but do we believe it? The same God that parted the Red Sea, the same God that freed the Israelites time and time again, the same God that brought down the walls of Jericho, that same God is watching over you and me right now. That same God knows of our situation.

Hebrews 11:6 says "...without faith, it is impossible to please God." (emphasis mine) Impossible. If we do not trust, if we cannot have faith in every circumstance, we have absolutely no hope of pleasing God.

The situation could be 100 Jericho's in our path. With faith, anything is possible. Stand firm and remember what God has done and believe in what God will do.