"I Could Be Doing So Much More" - God's Victory In Our Surrender

“You shall march around the city, all the men of war, going around the city once. Thus you shall do for six days.” Joshua 6:3

“I could be doing so much more right now.” Have you ever said those words? Perhaps at a time like this as we are all at home in quarantine, you may be thinking it. Think back to a time in the past when you felt like there was so much more you could be doing than what you were doing at the moment. Maybe it was a time you felt your gifts and talents were not being utilized in a way that they could be. Or perhaps you have found yourself with the time to finally do something you’ve been wanting to do, but now you’re waiting on something else.

Whatever the circumstances may be, we have all found ourselves in a similar position at some point in time where we feel there is so much more we could be doing than what is being asked (or allowed) of us in the moment.

In the book of Joshua, the Israelites are finally allowed to enter the Promised Land that God is giving them. But when they arrive in the Promised Land they must first drive out the current inhabitants in order to inherit what God has for them. The first city they take is Jericho. The stage is set, the people are ready but in Joshua 6:3 God gives a unique instruction….He tells the soldiers to walk around the city once a day then go back to their camp. It’s not the instruction we would expect to see. What about breaking down the walls and storming the city? They came here to fight, not go for a stroll!

To help us more fully understand the oddness of this command let’s consider a few things. First, consider who God gives this instruction to…men of war! These are trained fighters, men ready for battle. And what does God tell them to do? March around a city! Anyone could do that. These warriors are capable of far more than just walking around a city wall, but God simply commands them to walk around it. Not only to just march around the city, but to also not speak a word the whole time…no shouting, no intimidating, nothing! You have to think these warriors were feeling pretty under-utilized, like their hands were tied, and maybe even saying amongst themselves “we could be doing so much more.”

But it doesn’t stop there. Take a look at how many times God commands them to walk around…once a day! While we don’t know how long it took to march around the entire city once, we do know they were capable of doing a lot more (on the last day they marched around it seven times). After they marched once, they returned to the camp where they waited until the next day and did it all over again! From our perspective not only are their skills and training not being utilized, but neither is there time! Once again, some likely thought “we could be doing so much more.”

But let’s read ahead to see what happens! After seven days, faithfully following God’s instruction, He gives the city into their hands.

“…the people shouted a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they captured the city.” Joshua 6:20

God fulfilled His purposes through their obedience! It was surrender, not strength that resulted in victory! And the same is true for us. The most that we can ever do is obey God in whatever He is calling us to do. God can accomplish more through an obedient heart than we can accomplish on our own strength!

So, as you may find yourself saying those words, “I could be doing so much more” may you remember that obeying whatever God is calling you to do is the most you can ever do, no matter how big or small of an instruction He may give you.

Kyle and Maggie Hooper live in Blacksburg, Virginia where they serve with The Navigators U.S. Military Ministry at Virginia Tech. In addition to their ministry to the Corps of Cadets, Kyle serves as an F-22 Aircraft Maintenance Officer in the Virginia Air National Guard. Kyle & Maggie have two children, Jack (3) and Luke (2) and are passionate about raising up Godly leaders across our nation’s military.