Now therefore, take for yourselves twelve men from the
tribes of Israel, one man from every tribe. And it shall come to pass, as soon
as the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord
of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of
the Jordan shall be cut off, the waters that come down from upstream, and they
shall stand as a heap." –
Joshua 3.12-13
A long, long time ago I went to a gospel concert at the old, old Madison County Coliseum in Huntsville, Alabama. I believe we heard the Cathedrals that night singing a song called ‘Step Into the Water.’ All these years on I still remember that song every time I read this passage. I am not sure if it was based on this passage, but it fits in my mind.
Here is the setting. Israel was prepared to enter the Promised Land. But there was a problem in the way – the Jordan River. Only Caleb and Joshua had seen God part the Red Sea so to the others this was a real dilemma. But God was about to sole that. He was going to part the river. (As a good Bible trivia question can you name the four times the Bible describes waters being parted?)
Here the test was interesting. Everyone was to line up ready to cross the river with the priests at the front, but God says the waters will not part until ‘the soles of the feet of the priests…shall rest in the waters.’
So God was not going to remove the obstacle until the nation acted.
There are times when God gives us our own Jordan River experience and we need to step out in faith before He even works. True faith is trusting and depending on what we can’t see. True faith is stepping out into the water before it parts.
Do we have that kind of ‘step into the water faith?’ God we act and trust God for the next step?
A long, long time ago I went to a gospel concert at the old, old Madison County Coliseum in Huntsville, Alabama. I believe we heard the Cathedrals that night singing a song called ‘Step Into the Water.’ All these years on I still remember that song every time I read this passage. I am not sure if it was based on this passage, but it fits in my mind.
Here is the setting. Israel was prepared to enter the Promised Land. But there was a problem in the way – the Jordan River. Only Caleb and Joshua had seen God part the Red Sea so to the others this was a real dilemma. But God was about to sole that. He was going to part the river. (As a good Bible trivia question can you name the four times the Bible describes waters being parted?)
Here the test was interesting. Everyone was to line up ready to cross the river with the priests at the front, but God says the waters will not part until ‘the soles of the feet of the priests…shall rest in the waters.’
So God was not going to remove the obstacle until the nation acted.
There are times when God gives us our own Jordan River experience and we need to step out in faith before He even works. True faith is trusting and depending on what we can’t see. True faith is stepping out into the water before it parts.
Do we have that kind of ‘step into the water faith?’ God we act and trust God for the next step?
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