Breaking Stubborn Circles 

Did you ever try to analyze the reason the children of Israel under the leadership of Josua were told to walk silently in a circle seven times around Jericho? Imagine walking around Jericho, silently, looking as if you don't know what you are doing. They didn't do the walk at night, they did it during the day. They did it once a day for seven days, the citizens of Jericho would stand on the wall and laugh at them, mock them, jeer at them, call them names, spit at them, boo them and throw stuff at them. They would stomach it, walk back to their tents like fools then they would repeat the process the following day, knowing they would have to experience the same humiliation over and over again. They had an end in mind, God already told Joshua what would happen at the end of the humiliating period. The seventh day must have been hell to stomach, going around in circles is a frustrating thing for the human mind.

Many of us have experienced it at least in one season of our lifetime, some others have experienced it in almost every junction of their life in which they have to move forward in life while some are experiencing it now. Are you an experienced circle walker? Usually, when we talk about walking in circles, we're referencing the metaphor that's not shared in a positive light. Instead, it usually refers to making little to no progress on some frustrating problem that we cannot solve no matter how hard we try. Sometimes our minds go in circles, like the spinning of a computer icon. It always happens when your work is piling up, and you get stuck with the circle going round and round. 

You know the pain of this frozen loop in your mind makes it hard to find a new way to think about problems. We all know the pain of going around in circles. But what we do when we're going around that circle makes the difference. 

When facing an unsolvable problem, we must realize that God alone can solve it, but he expects us to encompass that problem as he directs. Many of you are in a predicament or facing a problem, and you need to ask yourself, "Am I facing this the way God would direct me, or is my mind needlessly spinning to solve the problem on my own?" Joshua and the Israelites had an unsolvable problem. God told them to take Jericho, which is almost humorous. Jericho is on record as the oldest city in the world. Scripture says Jericho was tightly secured and was a significant obstacle with walls rising 30-40 feet high and 13 feet thick. The City of Jericho was designed to be militarily impenetrable with no natural way to be besieged. As if that wasn't daunting enough, the people behind the walls were equally as ferocious and barbaric. They were ruthless tyrants whose city had never been taken before. Only God can solve a problem of this scale. We all face Jericho-like problems, and if you have a Jericho-sized problem, the Lord knows it.

 I want to remind you that you're a candidate for a Godlike miracle to solve that problem or predicament. Please have hope and joy in that fact. There is a solution; It's God's solution. For the Israelites, the Lord's solution sounded strange. He told them to march around the city one time a day for six days and seven times on the seventh day. After that seventh march, they were to blow their shofars (a horn made from a ram’s horn). Joshua and the Israelites were not problem-centered.  They walked in circles the right way. It’s difficult, and much easier said than done, but we have to resist being problem-centred. We need to be God-centered. Don't get caught in the frustrations of your problem, if you do, you will find yourself walking in circles the wrong way. If you go to God for a solution to a problem, he will tell you how to solve it.

Some years ago I noticed a trend in the fellowship I was leading, testimonies came in after our meetings but those who shared the big testimonies were those invited by members to participate in the services. Our members and ministers share some testimonies but they fade in comparison to the ones shared by attendees.
One of our pastors brought my attention to it, I was not really pleased with her for doing so at the time because it sounded as if she was accusing God of partiality or maybe she was accusing me of partiality. Anyway, that was how it sounded, I went to God in prayer. The Lord said to organize a Praise Session, asking him for nothing, bringing no financial or material offering just to praise and sing worship songs to HIM. We organized the praise and worship session at a location in Surulere, Lagos. Because we are an online fellowship, every time we meet, we must organize a venue and musical instruments and other things. Members would travel down from far and near. It is usually inconvenient for many but if we must break a cycle, we must do it as instructed by the Lord. The worship service was glorious. I remember getting home after the worship session and seeing gold dust all over my room. What happened afterward was a breakout of the ministry into the four corners of the world at a speed I cannot explain or account for. Our members began to do great things all over the world both for the Lord and in their personal lives. We rode the waves of increase and strength to the extent that within a year, fifty-two other ministries broke out of our fellowship and our numbers did not diminish. Imagine that! Some of our ministers became so empowered by the Holy Spirit that they had to start off their own ministries based on their increase in capacity on every side. Many praise God and organize praise concerts unto God in gratitude and appreciation for all the wonderful things God has done, we do this too and we do this often but once in a while, the Lord will give an instruction way ahead of time in which he would instruct as us as a fellowship to do something.

 Imagine being told in February to dedicate the Month of November to His Praise and to organize a Danceathon! A praise session that would involve a lot of dancing and jumping and shouting and singing without collecting any offering, just offering ourselves and the fruits of our lips unto the Lord in praise. This is what we are doing on the 22nd of November. It is not an end-of-the-year praise jamboree, it is not a musical promotion of GSWMI minstrels and their albums, and it is not a copying of any other minister or ministry. We do this only in obedience to God and His instructions. Some said why don't you invite this minister or that minister because they are popular and can draw a crowd. Sometimes you have to repeat an instruction to some people many times before they get it. This is not a jamboree and the praise we are offering is not for your enjoyment. The motive of the Tehilla Praise is to offer Praises to God. It is not a party. It is an offering of praise. The minstrels are there like Asaph to offer the guidance of strings and lyre but the sounds are not for the pleasure of the flesh or our carnal desires  We will offer this praise in liberty and total submission to the Leading of the Holy Spirit.

PS: Brother Olaitan gave a prophecy a few days ago. It was an answered prayer to the yearnings of my heart towards the Tehilla Praise. I dislike making up a wish list for God I prefer that God tell me what He wants to do and all I will then have to do is call them forth in the place of prayer. For the Tehilla Praise, just as it was for Joshua, I know what to expect after completing this circle. The word of God has established His intention and great is the company of those who published it.
 Glory be to God.