Step On In

Today’s question to ponder: Do you trust God today in whatever you are facing? If you are in a pleasant place that might be easy to answer “yes”. If you are in a difficult place, it might take some time to get to that answer. Or you may choose not to trust God right now. If that is where you are, perhaps God is asking you to take a step into the water, not knowing what is below or in front of you.

In Joshua 3 and 4 we see a powerful example of obedience and faith. After wandering 40 years in the desert, Moses had died and Joshua was in charge. Now it was time to enter the promised land but a huge obstacle stood in the way…the Jordan River, not a trickle, but at flood stage. I encourage you to read these two chapters to get the details. But here are a couple of things I want to highlight:

1. The water did not part until, at God’s direction, the priests put their toes in the water. They had  to trust that it would happen, or that God would do something to make their crossing over possible.
2. Memorial stones were taken from the dry river bed, the middle of the miracle, to become a permanent reminder of God’s provision and protection. It would stand for future generations as an opportunity to tell this story over and over.

So what does this have to do with my opening question? I was hoping you’d ask because the answer is “everything”. Today I want to address #1 above and next week will talk about #2.

Crisis, impossible situations, God-sized assignments and most of life in general take answering the questions: Is He enough? Is He able? Do I believe He is faithful? Do I understand He is working this out for my good? Can He really get glory from this?

You may not even fully understand how faithful He is until you put your foot in the water and watch Him work. You may think, “I’m just not sure I can hand this over to Him.” I want to say to you, yes you can! In fact, if you want to have any peace at all in the situation, you must.

I’ve watched God work miracles in my life when I’ve been willing to hand an impossible experience over to Him:

• My life purpose if motherhood was not to be in my future. (It was, but I didn’t know it when I handed it over to Him.)
• Family crisis when I was hundreds of miles away and unable to do anything but pray. (And it was enough!)
• Facing day after day of my mom’s dementia and not being able to help her find joy. (She had always been so much fun to be with till then.)
• A God assignment to take a denominational leadership job when I had the passion for the ministry but NOT the credentials necessary. (Truly a step in the water moment!)
• Living years with a broken family relationship that was so painful. (And even growing and thriving in spite of it!)

So, yes, I get how hard this is, but I also get how essential it is. Like the Israelites, unless I said “yes, He is faithful” and stepped into the water, I wouldn’t get to see God work. He worked every time I was willing to step into the unknown waters of His love. I love the song, Frontiers by Vertical Worship. It reminds me His love is strong enough to carry us into the unknown.

There is beauty in the water that we don’t always see clearly as this photo shows us. Often it looks more like the murky lake in the banner photo than the clear beach water. It’s easy to step in when we can see…not so much when we can’t. But’s that’s where faith allows us to step in without knowing what’s there. Can you do that today? I promise He’s trustworthy!

So….

• Get in His Word
• Ask someone to pray with and for you
• Call on the name of Jesus when you can pray nothing else
• Keep stepping in faith no matter how it “looks” or “feels”
• Trust Who He is an what His Word tells you.

NEXT WEEK I want to share more about the memorial stones in #2 above. Come back to see the influence our courage in our journey with Jesus can touch others!

Banner photo by Lily Banse on Unsplash