A WORD FOR TODAY, October 27, 2025
Peggy Hoppes
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Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, October 27, 2025
“On the seventh day, they rose early at the dawning of the day, and marched around the city in the same way seven times. On this day only they marched around the city seven times. At the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, ‘Shout, for Yahweh has given you the city! The city shall be devoted, even it and all that is in it, to Yahweh. Only Rahab the prostitute shall live, she and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. But as for you, only keep yourselves from what is devoted to destruction, lest when you have devoted it, you take of the devoted thing; so you would make the camp of Israel accursed and trouble it. But all the silver, gold, and vessels of bronze and iron are holy to Yahweh. They shall come into Yahweh’s treasury.’ So the people shouted and the priests blew the trumpets. When the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted with a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight in front of him, and they took the city. They utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, both young and old, and ox, sheep, and donkey, with the edge of the sword.” Joshua 6:15-21, WEB
Some people will say it is too early, but the Christmas romance movies have begun on several channels that play that sort of thing. Those stations make movies for other seasons, but there’s something about Christmas love that makes a heart happy. There are some, including my son, who just sigh when I begin watching those movies, especially this early in the season. After all, he says, “They are all the same.” Sure, those movies are formulaic. Sure, I can tell you that the couple will kiss when there is less than five minutes to the movie. You can almost guess from opening scenes what plot the story will follow. Will it be a city woman sent home to her hometown who reconnects with her high school boyfriend? Will it be a big city man sent to the small town to open a store which will destroy a mom-and-pop shop which is currently run by the daughter of the owners? Will there be an adorable child or animal that will bring together a couple who would never meet without it? Is that old guy really Santa? It is fun to guess what is going to happen. It is usually pretty easy because we know that the guy will get the girl, that the business will not only survive but will thrive, that the farm will be saved. Yes, in some ways every story is the same, but they are still fun to watch even when they are predictable, especially when the stars are favorites.
I would often amaze my children when they were small because I had an amazing ability to foretell what would happen on a television show. I don’t know if they had a special gift of “seeing,” I certainly didn’t think so. I laughed when they were amazed because I know my “predictions” were simply guesses based on patterns. My children would not be so amazed by my ability to guess when the boy and girl would kiss on a holiday romance movie because they now know about formulas and patterns. There are only so many types of story plots and if you recognize the plot you can generally figure out where the writers are going with it.
The same is not true about life. People often surprise me, and circumstances often seem out of my control. I suppose that is why I enjoy watching those Christmas romances: I know what’s going on and what will happen which gives me a certain sense of control. Yet, in life we don’t always know how people are going to react to situations or what might go wrong. We have the additional surprise of what God is going to do in the world. He does not usually meet our expectations. Take, for example, the story of Jericho.
Do you think Joshua and the Israelites knew what was going to happen when they blew those trumpets and yelled as they were commanded? Do you think they knew the walls would tumble down? In the story it tells us that they rushed toward the walls, but I imagine that there was a moment of shock. I can almost hear the crowds on the morning of that seventh day, wondering what God was thinking. After six days of walking around the city, it seems like they would have been tired of not seeing anything happen. What did they think God would do?
There are times when we can foretell what will happen in the movie or our everyday life. However, life often surprises us. Even more so, God often surprises us so that we can’t be sure that we know what will happen tomorrow. Those surprises might be upsetting or cause us to pause for a moment. We might doubt what will happen because God does amazing things outside our expectations. No matter what happens we can rest in the promise that God is with us and He will see us through. He will break down the walls and overcome our difficulties. We most likely will never have to rush into a city whose walls have tumbled, but sometimes God will send us rushing into some other battle knowing that He has already prepared the way.
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