Spring '09

March 1, 2009
Kevin Wood
  

Moving Forward in Faith

“Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water's edge, ¹⁶ the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away,”  Joshua 3:15-16

You may recall that in the book of Joshua the people of Israel are faced with the task of taking the land of promise by force. They stand on the brink of God’s promise but the hard part for them was yet to come. They had to possess the land. And, the book of Joshua begins with Joshua hearing from God that for them to possess the land they must be “very courageous” and trust in Him.

As the people prepared to enter Israel they immediately faced a barrier. The Jordan River stood    between them and their land of promise. So, Joshua commanded the priests to go and stand in the river. As the priests stepped in the water with the Ark of the Covenant the water receded and the river bed dried. In short, God opened a way for the people to cross and take   possession of their promised land.

God frequently works this way. He makes a promise and he expects his people to move out to achieve that promise.  And then as the people of God move out to grasp His promise he opens the way for them. So, God moves in response to our willingness to move out in Faith.

Now some might argue that God would have and could have stopped the river regardless of what the people did. But He did not do that. He waited for the people to act in faith and then at that moment when their feet touched the river, He stopped the river flowing.

What does this mean for us? It means that God blesses those that are willing to follow Him. It also means that His blessings wait for those who exercise their faith in Him. If the people did not move then the water would not have stopped. In short, God blesses those who are willing to move out in Him. And, those who are unwilling to possess His promises and wait in safety on the far side of the river, they will never see God’s miraculous power as He goes before His people. So, we have a choice. Either we wait in relative safety for God to do something, or we move out in Faith trusting that He is going before us.   And for those that move out in faith, God gives this promise:

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9

Blessings,

Kevin