Step into the water - watch the miracle
In Joshua 3:13-16 it says, "And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the LORD-the Lord of all the earth-set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap. So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. 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. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Seas of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho."
This is a fantastic story of faith and victory. It's miraculous! Have you ever stood on one side of a fast moving stream and had to jump from rock to rock in order to safely reach the other side? Once you begin, there is no turning back ... the ultimate goal is to reach the other side. Very high fast-moving water can be quite frightening especially on a river where you can't tell the depth of the water.
The very moment the priests got their feet wet the water stopped and began to pile up on one side and it trickled down on the other side. Israel crossed over Jordan on dry ground. It takes faith - that first step for the miracle to take place. God wanted Israel to know that He would continue leading Joshua just as He had Moses. He wanted to build their faith. In life we must take a step at a time, but when God gives the green light we plunge in whether the river is deep or not. Never hesitate - step in by faith.
We must take God at His word and believe that when the soles of the priests feet made contact with the waters of Jordan something miraculous would happen. This is one of the principles of living by faith. God provides the miracle. Many times He expects us to take a leap of faith before anything miraculous takes place. So often in life we wait till we are pushed, but when this happens it may be too late for the blessing of God that He had in mind for us. We must be ready to obey once He gives the command so we stay on course with Him.
When God calls us to a task it is often one that we are ill-equipped to tackle. We aren't prepared for the things He asks us to do. Who can ford the Jordan at flood-stage? Who can make raging waters cease to flow? ONLY GOD! Obedience is a must! Once the command is given, regardless of the awesomeness of the task, follow the command - step into the water!
The river is high and rushing by quickly and very deep at the present moment, but God said, "Step in and see the miracle - it won't happen until you do." We come so close at times in life to do the right thing, but as we stand at the edge of the rapidly rising river - we hesitate, then turn and walk away. The faith we thought we had is quickly swallowed up by the disobedience of self still on the throne of our life. We turn and run the other way - trust and obey goes out the door. Our faith is weak.
So many times we think we know better than God because our thinking process convinces us. However, reality hits us and facts take over in our thinking and we find ourselves back at the edge of the rising river and we take that first step into the water - then the miracle is seen and the plan is fulfilled. Faith is the explanation.
Paul explains in Romans 8:24-25, "...hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not have, we wait for it patiently." Many times we discover in walking by faith that the miracles happen at the last possible moment. A soft life-on-a-silver platter kind of life never builds faith. Faith grows in adversity. Seeing God's intervention in impossible situations strengthens faith.
You must believe that something miraculous happens in that moment when the soles of your feet make contact with the surface of the water. Once God gives yout the command (green light) - step forward - don't look back.
Don't just stand at the water bank twiddling your tumbs waiting for God to part the water while doing nothing. God wants you to act on His direction and then He will do the rest. Learn to eagerly obey God's commands.
