Joshua 3:15 - 4:3 -- “Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water's edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground. When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.’ “ (a favorite)
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The first time I read these verses a few years ago, I remember thinking, “Wait a minute, haven’t we heard this story already?” If we look back on the story of the Exodus, we saw this same situation happen before. Except in that story, it’s Moses and the body of water is the Red Sea, as opposed to Joshua and the River Jordan in this one. I felt like this one was kind of a cheat or cheap reference to something which already occurred. “Yeah, we get the point.”, I callously thought, “God is good at holding back the water when His people need to get moving. What’s the point of telling us about it again?”.
But, one of the many blessings of the Bible is when you spend a little extra time thinking about it or talking about it with someone else and new messages and gifts appear. My friend Bob Irvin, who runs the Jehoshua House jail ministry program here in central Indiana, shared with me his view on this story of Joshua and the people he was leading.
In Exodus, God told Moses to hold his staff out over the water in order for it to move back into high walls, creating a path for the Israelites. Once the mass of people had safely moved through, the water roared back into place, destroying the Egyptian army, allowing God’s chosen people to move ahead on their journey, not looking back.
There are two major differences between this water-moving event and the one where Joshua was involved. First, the priests carrying the ark actually had to go into the water; “...and their feet touched the water's edge...”. This was no passive, do-it-from-a-safe-distance show of faith. They had to take the step forward in order to see God’s miracle happen. Second, even after everyone was safely through, God asked them to go back into the water again; “...take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan...”. Even though God had delivered them safely, He still had more work for them to do.
Sometimes, we can take the approach where we wait for God to act, to show us a sign or a miracle before we are willing to take the step forward, showing our faith in him. When we are at our best, we move ahead with the knowledge that God will provide. We are also faithful when, just as we thought the coast was clear, He asks us to step back again into a potentially dangerous spot, to complete the work He started, and we heed the call.
So, take the first step. We know God will be with us to accomplish the plans He has set out for each of us. Don’t stand there waiting for the miracle to occur. Take the action which will allow the miracle to come forth, believing assuredly in His power to move obstacles out of our way. And, even when we think our job is done, be prepared to accept the gift of showing our faith again and again.
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