Step by Faith

Israel’s crossing of the Jordan River happened at harvest time (see Joshua 3). During that season, the river’s banks weren’t just full, they were overflowing. It was the worst possible time to cross over it.

The skeptics around Joshua surely would have scoffed, “You picked the wrong time, Joshua. We’ve got pregnant women, sick people, and the elderly. This isn’t of God.”

Yet God does call us to things that seem impossible. He looks at our situation and says, “The conditions are perfect for me to move on behalf of my people. Now the world will see how I rejoice to supply all my servants’ needs.”

Right now, you may be thinking, “God, I feel you leading me to make a tough decision. I know I don’t have what it takes to pull this off.” Yet that’s right where he wants you. In our weakness, God is made strong. In our lack, God is great. We say it is impossible, but with God at the center, nothing is impossible. “Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’” (Matthew 19:26, ESV).

Up to that point in Israel’s history, God had parted the Red Sea (see Exodus 14), but this time he was asking them to step into the water first. Specifically, he commanded the priests to carry the Ark of the Covenant into the rushing river by faith.

Imagine the skeptics’ voices! “God has never led us to do this before. He has always parted the water for us. This isn’t obeying him; it’s tempting him!”

Even Joshua may have had his doubts. “Lord, I’ve been down this road before with you and I know how it works. You always part the waters first. Why would you have us step into this rushing, muddy water? It doesn’t make sense.”

Friend, it doesn’t matter how risky or challenging the path God has set before us is, because if we step in with faith, he’ll part the water. Then we can move across on dry land.

“Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters” (Isaiah 43:16).