Sometimes you have to take the first step

The LORD said to Joshua, "Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. And as for you, command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, 'When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.'" ... So when the people set out from their tents to pass over the Jordan with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, and as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest), the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away...  (Jos 3:7-8...14-16)

I am often amazed at the way that God works. I guess that I shouldn't be surprised, He is God, after all. In the passage quoted above, the Israelites are preparing to cross into the Promised Land under Joshua's leadership. They are standing before an insurmountable obstacle -- the Jordan river above flood stage. There is no way that they can, of their own power, cross the Jordan, but they don't have to. God offers them the way across, but they have to be willing to take a step of faith.

God does not stop the Jordan's flow until the priests carrying the ark of the covenant get their feet wet, "as soon as...the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water..." God can do all things, and desires for us to have the best things, but he sometimes wants us to prove our faith by taking the first step.

How often are we denied the best things that God has for us because we are afraid to get our feet wet? We count the cost to the point that we are paralyzed with fear and unable to step out in faith. Scripture tells us that we should count the cost, but we must also depend on God's ability to make things happen. When God tells us to go, we must be willing to go! Remember that the Israelites spent 40 years on a 13-days' journey because they saw the "giants" in the land and let fear keep them from following God's plan, therefore, they did not receive his promise of the land "flowing with milk and honey".

But, Joshua was one of the two spies that believed that the land could be taken with God's help, and when the opportunity came again, he was not going to let it pass by again. He prepared his troops, had the priests take up the ark and told them to get their feet wet. And the Jordan was stopped long enough for the nation of Israel to cross on dry land.

Let us not allow fear of the unknown to keep us from receiving the great things that God has in store for us. Rather, let us take the step of faith, get our feet wet, and wait for God to provide the blessing that only he can.