Imagine you are standing in front of a river. The rushing water indicates that it is more than a babbling brook. In fact, it is flood season, so this river is unusually high. You have been told that, if you get to the other side, you will find blessing. But you have no bridge, no canoe, no way to get across besides your two feet. The one who told you to cross said that all you had to do was step into the river, and the water would stop. Really, though? Doubts fill your mind as you stand staring at the other side. If the water doesn’t stop, I will be swept away. Drowned. The end. Although the good stuff is in sight, it seems so far away.
This is what the Israelites went through in Joshua 3. God told them to cross the Jordan River to get to the Promised Land. The only problem was that they didn’t have a bridge. It was flood season, so this seemed doubly impossibly. He told them that as soon as the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant (an indicator of God’s presence) set foot into the river, the water would stop flowing, and the people would cross on dry ground. That is a pretty hard promise to trust, though – this generation had only heard from their grandparents about the famous Red Sea crossing, and it might have simply become a story rather than a reality to many of them.
What the people didn’t see, though, was God’s hand of preparation for this event. Scripture says that the water “piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan” (Joshua 3:16). This town was about 20 miles upstream; in order for the water to stop flowing, where the Israelites were crossing, it would have taken several hours. What is even more incredible about this is that the Bible says as soon as the priests’ feet touched the water’s edge, the water stopped. Not only did the water have to stop hours before they got there, it had to stop at exactly the right time so that the instant the men entered the river, the water stopped. That just leaves me in awe. God took one of the most daunting circumstances and made a way to cross. Because of this event, Joshua 5 says that all of the kings in the region heard what God did and “their hearts melted and they no longer had the courage to face the Israelites” (Joshua 5:1).
Now imagine that God has promised blessing on your life if you continually follow Him. So far, you have seen His provision, and you know that He does have a plan. But this time you wonder if He has gone crazy. He has asked you to something that might sound too big or even outrageous. You may not think that it even has a point – there are surely easier ways to continue on this journey with Him (particularly, one with a bridge). But He promises that He will stop the waters if you take that first step of faith.
We can’t see everything that God sees. We see the intimidating, fast-flowing river in front of us, but God has the perspective of the stopped water that is working with His perfect timing. In the past few months I have taken steps of faith, and it has been incredible to see how He is taking care of me and already using those steps. There are still more rivers to cross and more situations that won’t be my ideal, but I am excited about the journey that God has me on. His timing is just right, and He is faithful to make a way for me through difficult circumstances.
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