Creating Space To Listen
Have you ever felt like God was asking you to do something that didn’t quite make sense?
To take a step that seemed too big (or too small)…
To wait longer than you expected…
Or to keep doing something that felt like it wasn’t accomplishing much at all?
I’ve had moments like that in my own life.
There have been times when God led me to make decisions that didn’t seem logical at the time.
Leaving a job that I loved.
Going back to work after a season of staying home with my boys.
Starting a small business selling bread.
And at one point, surrendering the dream I had of being pregnant.
At the time, many of those steps didn’t make sense to me.
Honestly, sometimes they still don’t.
But looking back, I can see that God was doing far more than I understood at the time.
Moments like these remind me that God’s ways often don’t make sense at first - but they do always have purpose.
The instructions God gave Joshua before the fall of Jericho probably felt that way.
Imagine being one of the Israelites standing outside the walls of Jericho.
The city was fortified.
The walls were massive.
This was the obstacle standing between them and the land God had promised.
Then Joshua told the people the plan.
They wouldn’t attack the city.
They wouldn’t lay out a battle strategy.
They wouldn’t even raise a sword.
Instead, they would walk.
Once around the city each day for six days.
And on the seventh day, they would walk around it seven times.
That was the plan.
If I'm being honest, I know I would have wondered, "Why are we doing this?” And there may have even been an audible grumble and eye roll. (I love strategy, and planning, and KNOWING what is coming…. yikes).
Yet the people obeyed.
Day after day they walked…
And nothing happened.
Until suddenly, everything did.
The walls of Jericho fell.
God’s plan looked unusual - but it worked.
When God’s Ways Don’t Make Sense
How often do we experience something similar in our own lives?
God leading us to take a step that doesn’t immediately make sense.
Asking us to wait longer than we expected.
Or guiding us in ways that feel slow, quiet, or repetitive.
Sometimes it feels like we’re just walking in circles.
But what if God is doing something deeper than what we can see?
What if the purpose isn’t only the outcome - but what He is shaping in our hearts along the way?
Often, obedience is how God teaches us to trust Him with the result instead of trying to control it ourselves.
Even when it feels like nothing is happening, He is at work.
Learning to Recognize His Voice
Sometimes the challenge isn’t just obedience.
Sometimes it’s recognizing that God is actually speaking to you.
In 1 Samuel 3, God called out to Samuel during the night. Samuel heard the voice - but he didn’t yet realize it was the Lord speaking. Three times he ran to Eli, thinking Eli had called him. Finally Eli understood what was happening and told Samuel, “If he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’”
Samuel had to learn how to recognize God’s voice.
And often, we do too.
God may be calling you to slow down (or move faster).
To trust Him.
Or to take a step of obedience.
But when our lives are too loud, too rushed, or too full, we might miss it.
Creating Space To Listen
I continue to be reminded of how important it is to create space to hear from God. Not just squeezing Him into the leftover moments of the day…
But intentionally pausing to listen.
Because God invites us to call on Him.
Jeremiah 33:3 says: “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”
Sometimes the answers we are looking for don’t come from pushing harder or striving more.
Sometimes they come when we slow down long enough to listen.
Even When It Feels Like Circles
Maybe right now you feel like you’re just walking in circles.
Waiting.
Praying.
Trying to be faithful in small steps.
The story of Jericho reminds us that even when the path seems unusual - or uneventful - God is still working.
And sometimes the walls fall only after a season of quiet obedience.
So this month, let’s create space to listen.
Because the God who brought down the walls of Jericho is still speaking today.
A Prayer For Trust
Father,
Thank You for being a God who speaks and leads us.
Sometimes Your plans feel confusing, and sometimes the steps You ask us to take seem small or ordinary.
But we know that You are always at work.
Help us trust You even when we don’t understand.
Give us ears that are attentive to Your voice and hearts that are ready to obey.
And when we feel like we’re just walking in circles, remind us that You are guiding every step.
Teach us to listen.
Teach us to trust.
Teach us to follow.
Amen.
A question to carry with you this month:
Where might God be asking you to trust Him, even if the next step doesn’t fully make sense yet?
The same God who spoke to Samuel and brought down the walls of Jericho is still speaking today - may we have the hearts to listen and the faith to follow.