Shhh...and Walk

Last weekend I attended a church in my area for the first time. The speaker was a guest (this seems to be the trend when I visit churches...), and it being my first time, my expectations were not high. The music played, the announcements were made, and then the guest got up to speak. The message was about Joshua and the battle of Jericho...how God commanded the people to be quiet, and walk. That's it...be quiet...and walk. He didn't tell them to try to reason with the people of Jericho, to explain what they were doing...I'm sure they appeared to be crazy fools to those behind the wall, after all what were they doing anyway? Why were they walking in silence around and around? Can you even imagine what was said about them the last day when they circled the city seven times in the blazing heat? I believe the same is true of us. We are faced with "walls" in our own lives, and we have a choice of how we are going to handle things. God asked them to be quiet, and walk. I wonder if He asks the same of us. I'm sure he does. Don't get me wrong, there is a time and a place for words, words that have been prayed about and contemplated...but there is a time for being quiet, praying, listening to the Spirit, and walking. We are called to walk in truth, living the life that our words have professed. Its so easy to talk at people, to point out what areas they need help in in their lives, where they have gone wrong, and how they can fix it. Its a natural reaction to try to immediately correct the issues we may face. I think we tend to be people who want to fix things immediately...to have a quick answer to everything, to broadcast our opinion on every subject, to have the cure to what ails...all with the best intentions of course. There is a time, however, where the best answer is silence. Instead of coming up with a quick retort to crush our opponent...really praying and contemplating words that will build, and not tear down! Of course, in the case of Josh and the big wall (thank you Veggie Tales)...when the Israelites were finally aloud to speak...the wall came crashing down, and God delivered the city into their hands. What would happen if we spent the time figuratively walking around our issues, covering them in prayer, asking the Spirit to guide the words that come from our lips and the exact timing of it all...what kind of victory would there be then?