Joshua 6:1-2 Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in. And the Lord said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour.

I love the past tense language the Lord uses in telling Joshua about taking Jericho. God says it is done, as a thing already accomplished even though instructions have not even been given.

Now these people of Jericho put their trust in what they had built together, strong defenses, high walls, that had served them in the past. But they had never come up against the God of Abraham, the God of Faith.

Joshua trusted God. He had seen what God had done to lead them out of bondage. He had spied out the land of promise and believed God could give it into their hands. Joshua trusted God and acted on that trust. Because of it, God gave leadership of Israel to Joshua after Moses died.

I’ve often thought about the role of leadership and why some are elevated to a position of leadership while others more knowledgeable, with a deeper relationship with the Lord have not been promoted. It is that trust alone fails to take action. Many see trust in the Lord as the Lord taking action rather than taking action themselves.

There is always going to be that generation of men that see God do miracles and believe and trust God yet do not have the vision of being used of God to exact His will. They do not recognize themselves in God’s will. Now the why is as vast and varied as the number of men who do not step up.

Is it possible that the reason behind all of those excuses boils down to that Joshua 6:1 action? “none went out, and none came in.” They placed their trust in the works of their own hands and hid therein.