“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 3:13 NKJV
I think it is safe to say that we are living in days where the phrase ‘we have not passed this way before’ (Joshua 2:4) really resonates. These days are so different than what I imagine any of us had ever planned but yet we find ourselves here at this point. Some of us have been wearied by the wilderness, some of us have been filled with fear at the future and perhaps some of us have been expectantly excited as the eternal plans unfold before our very eyes. Whatever our thoughts on today, we can know without a shadow of doubt, that He who promised is faithful. He is the source of all Truth, He cannot lie.
In this passage, the time had come for the nation of Israel to enter into the Promised Land. They were positioned to possess the promise, and in that moment God asked them to sanctify themselves because He was about to do wonders among them (Joshua 3:5). God was about to go before them and lead them into the new land flowing with milk and honey. All they needed to do was, obey God’s instructions and see Him move on their behalf. They had to surrender their souls to God’s plans and walk in obedience and that is exactly what they did. As the soles of the priests feet dipped into the river, so the waters stood still and the crossover began. What an incredible moment in history that still speaks to us today!
Friends, in our lives we may not have gone this way before, but God has each one of us positioned wherever we are at this time in history because He wants each of us to step into His promise. In order to do that, we first must get right with God and be cleansed from our sins, then, as we surrender to following behind Him, He will lead us into all that He has planned for us. How amazing! Yes, there will still be battles ahead, but if we continue to communicate with God then we will see the enemy captured at each point and utterly destroyed by the edge of the sword, just like in the days of Joshua.
So, let’s arise to the things He is calling us to today. The priests surrendered their souls to follow, which surrendered their soles to walk, and they stepped into the water, and the challenge for us today is, will we do the same? Will we take God at His Word and have faith to believe in Him? Will we surrender our souls to Him completely and walk that out in our lives wherever it takes us?
Dear Lord God, cause our faith to rise in You this day. May we surrender our souls completely to You and be willing to walk wherever You call us to. Remove our fear and increase our faith in these days and help us to step out in faith so that we can step into all You have for us. In the Lord Jesus Christ’s Name we pray. Amen.