October 3, 2026

The Red Zone

Joshua 6:2 – “Then the LORD said to Joshua, ‘See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men.'”

The offense had marched eighty yards down the field, and now the ball sat on the eight-yard line with the crowd on its feet. The quarterback jogged to the sideline, and the coach flipped his laminated play sheet to a section the team had practiced all week but had not used once that game. Plays that work at midfield rarely work this close to the goal line, where the field shrinks and every defender crowds into a small space. The red zone calls for a different playbook, and the coach keeps it ready for exactly that moment.

Israel reached its own red zone at Jericho. After forty years in the wilderness and a miraculous crossing of the Jordan, the people finally stood at the edge of the land God had promised. The first city in their path was walled and shut tight. God’s call for that moment sounded nothing like a battle plan. He told Joshua to march the army around the walls once a day for six days, then seven times on the seventh day, with priests blowing trumpets and the people shouting at the end. Joshua ran the play exactly as called, and the walls fell.

God still knows which moments require a different approach. Seasons of waiting, open doors, and hard decisions near the finish line often bring instructions that make little sense to anyone watching from the stands. Patience may be the call when action seems obvious, or a bold step may be required when caution feels safer. The believer’s part is to trust the One who sees the whole field and to run the play exactly as He calls it.

Today’s Prayer: Lord, help me trust Your call when I am close to the goal line, even when it makes no sense to me. Amen.

Reflection Question: What instruction from God have you been slow to follow because it doesn’t look like the obvious play?