By Mark Maher
Jericho was the first city taken by the Israelites. It started there. The Book of Joshua lists 31 cities or towns that the Israelites would have to face in order to take the promised land.
Have you ever had an overwhelming task that you felt you needed to complete? A vision from God that just seemed like too much right now? Just go do the “next right thing.” Just go to Jericho. Just keep walking by faith. Just take the next step. This day. Put your toes in the metaphorical water.
Just go take Jericho. Take the next step. Your destiny is forward, but you don’t have to figure it all out right now. It’s too much too soon, one day at a time. Go to Jericho. God will tell you what to do. It might involve marching around and around until you think there’ll never be a breakthrough, and that’s why we “walk by faith.” (1 Corinthians 5:7)
Keep waiting on the Lord. “Those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength.” (Isaiah 40:31) Waiting on the Lord deepens our faith, we prefer the wait because it’s where our infrastructure becomes solidified, and while we wait with faith, God changes us from within, transforming us and renewing us. Trust that the “walls will come down.” (Joshua 6:4:5)
So our future success depends on the start. We all have to start somewhere. “Do not despise these small beginnings.” (Zechariah 4:10) So go start with Jericho. Keep stepping. “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” (Proverbs 29:19) It’s an easy formula, “put Christ first,” (Proverbs 3:6) follow his vision for your life, and everything else will take care of itself.
Go take the city. Get excited about the Bible, set up a meeting with a friend, be encouraged to share your faith, say yes to the next faith opportunity, attend church, go to the Bible study, start a spiritual book club, find prayer partners, be a mentor, create a ministry, counsel others through grief, speak life, etc.
If you don’t know where to start, start there, and then, “He who began a work in you will take it to completion.” (Philippians 1:6) Go complete the circle, but you have to start. Moses took the Israelites as far as he could, but it was Joshua who started with Jericho. What is your Jericho?
Not going to waste another day. The Israelites wasted 40 years. God “opens doors.” (Revelation 3:8) You have to move through the open doors. And what may seem like walls, are coming down. Our strength is found in the Lord as “God pulls down strongholds” (1 Corinthians 10:4) If God gives you a word, trust that the walls are coming down, the doors are flying open. You have got to move.
Don’t judge your future by your present situation. “By faith, we see the world called into existence by God’s word, what we see created by what we don’t see.” (Hebrews 11:3 MSG) So who I am today will not be who I am in five years. By faith, God is going to do a work. “He will do more than you can ask, think, or imagine.” (Ephesians 3:20)
Your relationships with God paints the vision. We all have our own unique, spiritual vision. What’s your assignment? If God is in it, move forward. Go “get wise counsel.” “Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors, there is safety.” (Proverbs 11:14) In fact, you may be blessed to have somebody in your life that has the shared vision of Christ, and this strength is best, because “two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor; If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)
“The steps of are ordered by the Lord, And He delights in his way.” (Psalms 37:23) When we say God orders your steps, what we are saying is not that God will take the step for you; it’s that He will tell you which one to take. So let’s start with Jericho and let’s get stepping. 
