What happens when we finally arrive at the place God promised, only to find the hardest battle of our lives waiting at the door? That is exactly the situation Israel faced in Joshua 5 and 6. After 40 years of wandering, after crossing the Jordan on dry ground just as their ancestors crossed the Red Sea, they sat down to their first meal in the promised land and looked up to see Jericho — one of the most fortified cities in the ancient world — standing directly in their path. This sermon wrestles with a truth that cuts against our instincts: we can be squarely in the center of God’s will and still find ourselves in the most intense battle of our lives. Difficulty is not always the enemy’s attack. Sometimes it is God forging our faith, building something in us that comfort never could. The question is not whether the battle will come. The question is whether we will run from it or lean into it and ask, Lord, what do you want to say here?
