Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: When you reach the edge of the Jordan's waters, go and stand in the river. -Joshua 3:8
I love this verse because of its wonderful power and simplicity. The order was for the priests to carry the Ark of the Covenant into the water of the Jordan and stand there. Nothing was going to happen until they first stepped into the water. Do you know why a lot of Christians are not experiencing the fullness of God’s grace and power? They have never stepped into the water – spiritually speaking. The Lord invites us to wade out into the water of a relationship with Him. And after we have stood there in that blessed relationship we are then invited to move out into deeper water. Someone will say, “Well, I don’t know if I can do that or not; I get really nervous at the thought of wading deeper into my relationship with God. I may get knocked down by the current.” My response is, you have nothing to fear. The Lord won’t let you get swept away in the current. In fact, He will stop the water altogether – just like He did here in this situation. The latter part of Joshua 3 says that when the priests stepped into the water that the flow of water upstream stopped, which allowed the people to cross over toward the Promised Land (See vv 16, 17).
If we want to experience the fullness of God’s blessings then we must step forward in faith. We must be willing to get our feet wet in the water of God’s mercy and faithfulness. Understand that no one can do that for me but me, and no one can do that for you except you. By faith we move forward into the will of God. There is no other way to reach the Promised Land apart from moving forward in faith. Had the priests been unwilling to move forward I have no doubt that God would have found some others who were willing to go. But that wasn’t God’s plan; He had called them to step out on faith and to stand in the waters of the Jordan River.
God has called you and me to be faithful and to move forward into deeper blessings in Him. Anyone can just mosey around on the east side of the Jordan River. Doing that wouldn’t require any faith at all. But it takes faith, commitment, dedication, and yes, courage, to advance forward into the rushing waters of the river of life. When we feel that water rushing around our feet it’s easy to get a little panicky. But God has the power to calm our fears, dry up the water, and allow us to cross over into His will. None of it will happen, however, unless we take that first step of faith.
Let us not forget that God is able and He can still do the impossible – in us, through us, and all around us. People get all hung up on trying to figure out who they are. First, remember whose we are. Do that, take that first step of faith, and the rest will begin to fall into place. If we are in Christ then we belong to Him. He will empower us to go forward into heights of faith and depths of grace we would not have imagined possible.
Seek the Lord today, trust in Him, remember that we are His and He is with us all of the time. Step out into the waters of faith and God will help us to move forward.
