I kinda lied when I said nothing was rolling around in my head the other day. This post has been rolling around for a while, but it was one that I was really praying about because I didn't understand it all myself. God is definitely leading my family down a path that we have never been before so when I read this set of scriptures in a devotional it really hit my heart hard. It took weeks of me praying about it before I finally felt comfortable writing about it. Joshua was up early and on his way from Shittim with all the People of Israel with him. He arrived at the Jordan and camped before crossing over. After three days, leaders went through the camp and gave out orders to the people: “When you see the Covenant-Chest of God, your God, carried by the Levitical priests, start moving. Follow it. Make sure you keep a proper distance between you and it, about half a mile—be sure now to keep your distance!—and you’ll see clearly the route to take. You’ve never been on this road before.” Then Joshua addressed the people: “Sanctify yourselves. Tomorrow God will work miracle-wonders among you" Most of you know the story, but just in case someone doesn't here is a quick run down:
The Israelites were coming off of 40 years of wandering in the desert. Why were they wandering? Because of fear and disbelief. God had promised a land to them but when they saw the giants and the obstacles before them, their knowledge of God's might and power seemed to disappear. Their doubts, disbelief and lack of faith had to die in the wilderness before they could walk into what God had promised them. Moses had just died and God was instructing Joshua in what to do next---cross the Jordan river into the Promise Land. The priests were to go first carrying the Ark of the covenant and the people were to follow at a certain distance. This is the part that puzzled me. Why? So they could see the Ark at all times. The ark was considered to house God's very presence. God needed to be in plain view of the Israelites at all times so they could know which way to go. They had never been down that road before. At this time of year the Jordan river was overflowing it's banks. It was huge and flowing quickly. It had to be an intensely frightening sight; One that would strike fear in the hearts of the people that were instructed to walk across it. This feat would take a miracle and God purposely directed them down this path to deliver just that--a great and mighty miracle. It would stand to remind them of his might and power. Their focus had to stay on Him...if they couldn't see Him they wouldn't know what to do or where to go. This miracle would take crazy amounts of faith on their part. The Israelites were to sanctify themselves for God was going to do a miracle in them. Sanctify means to make clean, to dedicate, to consecrate or to be set apart for the work of the Lord. Before God could do this work the people had to be in a certain spiritual condition or mindset. They had to dedicate their minds/hearts to Him; Consecrate themselves to Him; Cleanse themselves of disbelief. They had to be set apart before God could work wondrously in their lives. I'm sure 40 years of wandering in the wilderness had given them ample time to do this, but facing the mighty Jordan and knowing the battles that lay before them most likely gave the enemy the perfect opportunity to begin speaking disbelief into their hearts. When that happens we must do whatever it takes to cleanse those things from our hearts and minds. We know that they did as they were told and the Promise Land was delivered into their hands. I know the fear of facing an intimidating obstacle. When compounded with coming off of a wilderness time and being weary, crossing your Jordan seems impossible. It takes crazy faith and blind obedience. It means looking at God and saying "I'm scared to death, but I'm stepping with you anyway. I believe you to part the waters and allow me to step safely on the other side." He is God and He is good, follow His lead and you will step onto safe ground into the beautiful promises He has spoken over you. I might have to remind myself of this multiple times a day, but that is OK. The more I repeat it, the more I believe it. ~Michelle
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AuthorsThoughts and ideas inspired by the Holy Spirit, delivered to you courtesy of Chris or Michelle Cooper. We hope you enjoy our posts and would love to hear your feedback! Archives
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