Get Your Feet Wet

Joshua 3:8 - You shall, moreover, command the priests who are carrying the ark of the covenant, saying, 'When you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.'

Are you facing a challenge? Looking for somewhere to serve? Have a problem you need to overcome? Seen an injustice that needs to be fixed?

Regardless of how insurmountable the things we face appear, God is able to overcome and ready to help us.

I found so much to glean from this verse:

Sometimes we have to get our feet wet before we will see what God will do. He may be calling us to something and we can't see the full picture, how it will play out or the exact direction we need to go; Or we may see a problem or injustice we need to fight against/overcome but it seems like it is too big and we don't know how we would ever really make a difference. It's times like these when God may be asking us to simply wade in. He sometimes requires a small step of faith, which may be to simply get started or to take a few steps into whatever our "Jordan River" may be and He's there waiting to show us the unimaginable things He will accomplish through us if we are obedient to take that step.

Sometimes we need to be still and watch for God. At times we might prefer to jump right in and solve a problem immediately but God may have different plans. He may be asking us to wait on Him to show us what He can really do. We can't overcome by our own strength. We shouldn't let our hopes and expectations be damaged because things aren't moving as quickly as we would like. We should take the steps necessary for obedience and watch and wait for God to work and to direct our next steps. Notice the command to the priests was to step in and stand still, it was not to run in and the forge their way across. He didn't require them to fight the strong waters of the Jordan or to carry all their baggage across and risk drowning. He asked them to step in first and then He would make a way for them. He would stop the waters and make the river bed dry so they could walk across. I'm sure if they contemplated methods of crossing before the revelation that He would do this, walking across the Jordan on dry land wasn't really an option they considered. God makes plans that we can't know or understand, sometimes we have to be patient and wait for them to be revealed without forcing our own solutions.

Another point to note is that the Jordan River was not the Israelites greatest obstacle. Once they crossed and came to the Promised Land, there would be established peoples they would have to conquer -the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites. That's quite a list! God used the miracle of drying the Jordan River bed not only to get them closer to their destination, but also to show them He was there and He would assuredly make a way for them to overcome these people.

Verse 10, in reference to making the Jordan River bed dry - Joshua said, “By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will assuredly dispossess from before you the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Hivite, the Perizzite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, and the Jebusite.

God used the crossing of the Jordan to increase the faith of the Israelites so they would have confidence in His leadership and provision as they made their way through the Promised Land. What will we do with what God asks us to do? Will we respond in complete obedience or will we go our own way? I pray we learn to be obedient in every situation, whether it requires stepping in and moving forward or standing still and waiting on God. May our faith be increased by simple acts of obedience and the resulting miracles and breakthroughs provided by our all knowing and unimaginably creative and powerful God!