WAITING TIME (Joshua 4-5)

The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month. (Joshua 4:19, MSG)

When I'm writing a book, I write the time at the beginning of each scene. For instance, the current scene for my work in progress takes place on Thursday, May 23rd. Otherwise I lose track of my timetable.  

Today I noticed the passage of time. The Israelites crossed the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month. Now I know, of course, that the Jewish calendar is nothing like the gregorian calendar which I'm familiar with. But for the sake of considering the timetable, I'll call it 1/10.

     1/10  The Israelites cross the Jordan River.
           The men were circumstanced and took a few days to heal.
     1/14  The Israelites celebrated the Passover - a week-long festival.
     1/22 The earliest that the Israelites began marching around Jericho. They marched every day for a week.
     1/29  The earliest that the Israelites marched around Jericho seven times and the wall fell.

As soon as Israel crossed the Jordan, God began a form of psychological warfare on the Amorites. They were terrified.  Joshua 5 says "the courage drained out of them just thinking about the people of Israel."

The people had crossed the river. 600,000 soldiers--did  an army that large ever go to battle? (You military history buffs will know.) 

Inside the walls of Jericho, the citizens watched. And waited. And waited some more. After three weeks or so, the men assembled and marched on the city. The citizens stiffened. At last the action would begin. Perhaps they even felt relieved that at last they would face the enemy.

But the Israelites did nothing but march and play trumpets. One day . . . two days . . . six. 

Doomsday fell on the seventh day.

Why the delay? Was it for the Amorites--to terrify them? Perhaps, to give them the opportunity to surrender, to announce their belief in Israel's God, such as Rahab did?

Was it for the Israelites--to teach them obedience? 

During the delay, first the Israelites took the step that set them apart as God's people, the rite of circumcision, marking them as children of the covenant.

They also worshipped. They remembered what God had done for them in the past. A God who had delivered from the thumb of the world's greatest power would have no trouble swatting a petty Amorite king. 

So often we are caught "in between."  In between the start of a new chapter. We have crossed our Jordan! We expect to jump into battle (and win) right away.  We keep asking--and God keeps saying "soon."

In case you don't know this already--God's idea of "soon" doesn't agree with ours. 

But never doubt God is at work during that in between time. Let Him prepare you--and others--for what lies ahead.  

TIMING and GOD'S WILL (Numbers 9)

This morning, I read "Night of day, it made no difference--when the Cloud lifted, they marched."

My mind scrambled to take in the scene, especially at night time. As a writer, I try to imagine describing the scene, and I have a dozen questions.  Who knew that the Cloud lifted? Did they have an organized watch for that special purpose? I would guess the Levites, or even Aaron and his sons, kept watch. They were in charge of blowing the trumpets, announcing the move. And they camped next to the Tabernacle, where the Cloud must have dominated the sky overhead. They were in the best position to see it move.

It would be even more difficult during the day. What if the children were at play? The parents at work? How do you survive living on the road as they did?

How long does a group of 600,000 men plus women and children stretch? How much space did their camp take?

How much time passed from the time the Cloud lifted until it moved? Was it always the same length of time? Where did God drawn the line between adequate time to prepare to move and dawdling?

God gave them visual clues (Pillar of Cloud/Pillar of Fire) and verbal clues (trumpet blasts) to announce the time to move on. They couldn't make a mistake.

There are days that I want God to make the direction He wants me to move in as clear as He did for the Israelites. Sometimes He does. This spring, I am preparing several different book proposals. They vary greatly; one is nonfiction, one is contemporary romance, a third is a self-publishing endeavor for novellas, and another is historical romance for a new publisher that I hope to work with long term.

I have great hopes for all four of them--and know from experience they probably won't all get a green light. This morning I prayed for God to make His will clear, to close the wrong doors and open the right ones. I should also have asked for God to open the right door at the right time. I sent in a proposal this morning. If the answer is "yes," I trust God will let me know when I need the information.

Almost five years ago, God lifted a pillar from Denver and forced me out. I lived in and loved Colorado for almost twenty years. Then in 2008 my daughter died. I didn't know that among other losses, it started the avalanche of moving me on. A job I had enjoyed for ten years wouldn't let me take a long scheduled vacation to see my first grandchild. My mother's health failed, and she needed to move into a nursing home. I couldn't afford to rent an apartment by myself. Day by day, I became convinced the time had come for me to move.

The bottom line application from today's passage: When God tells us to move, it's time to start packing.