When God calls us, He wants us to go all in.
A couple of nights ago, my hubby and I attended our small group get-together from church. We are watching a video about different places in the Holy Land that appear in the Bible. The narrator then ties them in to our modern life.
This time our video was about the Jordan River which appears several times in the Bible. The narrator explained that the Jordan flowed extremely quickly in Biblical days. It has now been dammed up to help supply water for the nation of Israel, but it used to flow fast and at times was very deep.
In the Book of Joshua, we find Joshua getting ready to at long last, lead the Israelites to the Promised Land. They had been wandering in the desert for forty years as punishment for doubting that God could deliver them. An entire generation had died.
But, in that time, God continued to feed them everyday. He provided for them in their time of wandering. Even in His anger, He didn’t abandon them. That is the nature of our God.
But, the moment of truth had arrived. God had told Joshua the time had come to cross over the Jordan River and into the Promised Land. The Jordan stood between their old lives of being lost and wandering and their new lives of what God had promised them.
But, I learned in the video, that the problem was that the Jordan was at flood stage. It was very deep and fast. The priests who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant, were commanded to walk into the Jordan. This wasn’t an easy, gentle slope. There was no wading in or dipping their proverbial toes in. If they were going to trust God, they had to go all in.
The story took on a little deeper meaning for me. Anyone can gradually wade into something, but taking the plunge is an entirely different matter. Thankfully, they didn’t hesitate. They plunged in and God stopped the water from flowing upstream.
Just like with the Red Sea, a generation earlier, He parted the waters, and the Israelites walked through on dry land. But, to get their miracle, just as Moses did with the Red Sea, God expected them to step out in faith.
God wasn’t interested in baby steps. He wanted fearless faith and when He got it, wow! He came through in a huge, miraculous way.
I’ve thought a lot about Joshua and the Jordan since I saw that video. What does the Biblical account have to do with us?
We all would love to see God move in big ways, but time after time in the Bible, we see that we have to step out in faith first, and quite often take a plunge, not wade in timidly. Fearless faith requires trust and obedience, two things that we often struggle with.
In the modern Western world, we like to plan everything and have contingencies. Jumping in without a backup is kind of frowned upon.
But, when God calls us, He says we should jump anyway, no matter how deep our Jordan may be. We should all remember, that we worship the God who stopped the Jordan at its source. He can always do it again.
What are you being called to do today? Take a leap and watch. Your Promised Land may be waiting on the other side.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂