Aug
23
2012
Joshua Perseverance
Posted in Daily Living 2 Comments
My son will be going back to college this weekend.
It is hard to believe that he will be a junior this year.
I admit to a bit of nostalgia.
It was only yesterday when he was getting on the bus with a backpack bigger than he was.
I still remember the little high top sneakers…the bucket hats he used to love to wear.
He loved his bike and his skateboard and playing basketball and football on the lawn.
All of that became secondary when he began his music.
Drums, guitar, piano…he made his own dulcimer…he has a djembe (an African drum).
A man of music…a man with heart…a man of God.
We went out shopping today and out to lunch…just the two of us.
I love the one on one time with my children…even now…especially now!
We were talking about the way he used to play when he was in elementary school.
He loved setting things up even more than actually playing with them.
In the days of Fisher Price toys, with its castles and pirate ships and western towns, Brian loved setting up a scene.
He could tell you the whole scenario, if you asked him.
He would be at it for hours…leaving for a bit…coming back to it…rearranging.
Most times he would tell me not to come in until he was finished.
Since he played in the family room, which was right off the kitchen, I could see him without him knowing I was watching.
I was amazed!
Such precision…meticulous placement of the smallest figure.
A pirate hanging off the ship’s mast.
A cowboy dangling dangerously from a horse.
A knight in shining armor defending the keep…the highest, most secure place in a castle.
Once when I walked into the room, he had about a dozen knights in various positions hanging from the stones of our fireplace.
He found crevices to put their feet or their hands in, that I never knew existed.
Of course, you don’t work that hard and disassemble right away, so often the scene would be there until morning…when he would start all over again.
He laughed at the memory…part of his story…part of who he is.
Creative even then…creative still!
Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:4)
What would seem ridiculous to some…time consuming…pointless…was really very important work!
Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with the king and its fighting men. March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. Have seven priests carry trumpets of ram’s horns in front of the ark. 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 all the people give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse, and the people will go up, every man straight in.” (Joshua 6:2-5)
It took faithful obedience to follow God’s instructions.
One could ask…what is the point?
How is walking around the city for six days and then walking seven times around the city on the seventh day going to accomplish anything?
Will shouting really cause the walls of Jericho to collapse?
Perseverance even when it seems absurd.
Meticulous adherence to God’s commands even when you don’t understand.
Do we have Joshua perseverance?
Joshua, the man who boldly proclaimed, But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:15)
Joshua perseverance…even when it doesn’t make sense.
Obedience simply because God says so.
Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. (Joshua 1:7,8)
Perseverance in the little things.
Meticulous adherence to God’s commands without question.
Walls can come down, if He so desires.
When the trumpets sounded, the people shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the people gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed, so every man charged straight in, and they took the city. They devoted the city to the Lord and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it… (Joshua 6:20, 21)
I have to admit I miss those days of figures hanging off my fireplace stones.
I must say, however, the same perseverance I saw then…I see now!
It is there in all the important things…because it was there, back then, in the little things.
I’m squirreling this one away to share with our Joshua some day!
Janna,
With Godly parents and Godly grandparents, Joshua will be surrounded with the Word of God…and will know how much God loves him.
He, like his brother, will be loved well, and trained in the way he should go…and prayed for.
What a blessing to think that you will save this post for him.
Gina