« Learning to Get a Balance: The Mary – Martha Situation | Home | Stop Waiting to Live »

When Going in Circles Is the Victory (Joshua 6, NIV)

By | May 23, 2010

The annual season for the Relay for Life by the American Cancer Society takes place around the same time every year. Hundreds and thousands of people from communities around the nations and world, walk a circular path around field, tracks or parks to show a united front to raise money and bring awareness that supports research for Breast Cancer and other cancers.

We walk for family members and for people we will never personally meet. My first walk in this event was in the middle of a beautiful afternoon in the Sunken Gardens of a historic park. The sun was shining and a cool breeze from the Pacific Ocean made the atmosphere ideal. Along the pathway were “stops” that reminded us that we weren’t just out for a good time, but on a mission to reach a goal. At one spot the walkers were asked to sign a pledge card to do something real and practical to be proactive in the fight against cancer. I signed a pledge card to get a mammogram then tied the pledge card to a vertical pole that was becoming crowded with various pledges. Now I was obligated to follow through with this medical test.

Continuing on my walk became more sober; instead of chatting lightly about the day it made me think about the reality of breast cancer and how my cousin had found a lump in her breast so unexpectedly after years of not having any problems. Today she is a breast cancer survivor. I’d avoided mammograms. The last one hurt and I made great excuses about how I really didn’t need one. But excuses are often fears instead of faith. I was being hit in the face with a reality of my life. I would get my mammogram and be able to testify to other women about the importance of facing the fear and doing it as soon as possible.

After the afternoon walk, I took a break and a nap to return to walk during the night. The night walk presented a completely different atmosphere with the walking path lit by luminaries. These small white bags, lit from inside with a tiny candle had been created by some of the walkers earlier in the evening and had names, pictures, poems and prayers of loved ones who had lost their battle with cancer. Walking in the night with just these lights along the path brought a new sense of the enemy of cancer. Now our walking woke up strong memories of brave fights of loved ones gone before. The reality of fear, death, courage, hope and survival was the wind that blew through our nostrils. It was a bittersweet fragrance of defeat and victory mixed in one.

As I walked in the early morning hours from 12:30 a.m. to 3:00 a.m., I thought, does walking in this big circle really mean anything? Does it really help to reach a goal? Then I thought about Jericho as the story of the capture of Jericho unfolds in Joshua 6:1.

“Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.” Joshua 6:1, NIV)

Jericho was the land promised to the Israelites by the Lord. As the Israelites approached Jericho to claim it, the army and citizens of Jericho had closed the fortitude gates to keep the Israelites out. Surely the hope of victory seemed futile. What could a bunch of Israelites who had been in a desert for years do to get through the barriers of a well fortified city? The best they had to fight their battle with was their Priests, the Lord and their faith.

As I walked around in circles during this Relay for Life, the inner part of the area that we encircled became like an illustration of a Jericho. Inside was the answer to the problem of cancer. It was fortified and unyielding in providing an answer and a cure. The best we all seemed to have was our feet, the organizers and our prayers to the Lord.

The Israelites were instructed to walk around Jericho with the Ark of the Covenant representing the Lord and the Armed Guard of Priests in front. The people were told to march quietly until the time was right to move in to capture the land. “Do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then Shout!” (Joshua 6:10, NIV).

They walked in circles around the city of Jericho then returned to their camp, doing this for six days, waiting for the right time to get instructions to raise their voices in a war cry to gain victory.

The Relay for Life meant walking; walking for hours, walking for days, walking for years, walking together with others from around the nation and world against a common enemy; walking together in the unity of prayer while rejoicing in faith that the cure for cancer was coming.

Like a huge enemy fortified against the hopes of the people, cancer stands in the center of the battle, trying to remain an elusive foe. But the Lord let this turn into a new vision; that by marching without a war cry, marching without raising voices; by marching without saying a word, the battle is being fought and the victory will arrive.

Suddenly it was very clear why we were walking on our path throughout the day and the night. It was clear why the time was provided for prayer and faithfulness to grow. It was clear that the battle was not ours, but the Lords. Nothing, not even cancer has a stronghold that the Lord will not defeat. It is only by staying faithful in the part we can do, even though it seems small, that we will be ready to see the victory when the time comes.

Share and Enjoy: