Step In The Water (2)

The Jordan River was at Flood Stage

It had been a long time in coming. The Israelites were encamped by the Jordan River. It was a journey that had started at least 40 years before. On the other side of the Jordan was the Land of Canaan, otherwise known as the Promised Land. It was the land that God had promised to their patriarch, Abram almost 600 years before. Once they had been release from slavery in Egypt, Moses had led them through the wilderness. Throughout their wilderness wandering, they had heard the elders tell the stories of the Patriarchal promise and the early reports that the original ten spies had given about the land. Now, as we come to , they find themselves at the Jordan which is the only thing standing between the and the Promised Land. The river is the only barrier before them that is preventing them realizing the dreams that had been share across most of the their lives. However, there was one significant problem. The Jordan was a flood stage which meant it was approximately twice its normal size and impossible to ford in such a state. Although they were within sight of their destination, they were at the mercy of raging flood waters.

Let me ask you a question. Have you ever found yourself that close to a goal that you’ve been striving to meet, only to discover that something you hadn’t planned on is standing in your way. How about becoming the man or woman that God had called you to be? What is standing in the way of you entering into that Promised place of God’s Presence?

In our text for today, it wasn’t just the Children of Israel who was facing a crisis. So was Joshua. Consider the position he was in. Moses had led them for the past 40 years and gotten them to this place. However, before entering the Promised Land he had been directed by God to pass the torch to Joshua. Suddenly, without Moses to lean on, Joshua was faced with the dilemma of what to do with all of these people. The people were looking to him to lead them to the destination but the flood waters of the Jordan were standing in his way.

It was into that situation that God came to him and told Joshua to instruct the priests who were carrying the Arch, to actually step in the water and watch and see what God does.

Could it be that God is directing us today to do the very same thing. I don’t necessarily mean literally. However, could it be that God is telling you to bold step into the impossible obstacle that is standing between you and what God is calling you to be? Could it be that God is calling us, as a church, to step boldly into that which we think is keeping us from becoming the body of believers that God is calling us to be? It’s all about trust, is it not? Isn’t that what stewardship is all about? Well, let’s take a moment and consider how this impacted Joshua and the Children of Israel.

Stepping In The Water Required Josua to mature in his faith

In fully understanding fully what is taking place here, we need take note a several interesting phrases which shed light on the passage. The first is found in verse seven. God tells Joshua, “today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel.” At first glance this sounds reasonable. It sounds like God will start lifting Joshua up as a leader and someone to whom the people will listen. While it does mean that, the term carries with it an even greater meaning. The word that is translated here as “exalt” means more than simple praise. It refers to “growing up.” In other words, God will make Joshua come of age as the next leader of the children of Israel. Joshua was facing what every younger leader has faced as they stepped into a leadership position vacated by a popular person. For forty years the people had relied on Moses. They were the ones who said to Moses, “Don’t let God speak directly to us or we will die. You speak to us on behalf of God and we will listen.” Now, Moses is there no longer and Joshua is faced with filling shoes that no moral being would ever be able to fill. It would only stand to reason that he would be experiencing a lot of self doubt.

Have you ever found yourself in a place like that? Could it be that one of the reasons you’ve never stepped into a key role in the ministry of the church is because you don’t have enough faith in yourself? You see, that’s the beauty of it. We are supposed to put our faith in God. Once we do that, it’s not so hard to put our faith in ourselves.

Illustration: Ginger Wells and her doubts at being a Stephen Minister.

God’s Call is one for us to mature in our faith.

Maturity in one’s faith always begins with pointing the way to God who established the Covenant.

Joshua did not take credit for anything that was about to take place. He pointed to two things, “How the people would see God’s glory revealed and the patriarchal covenant which God had made. Joshua told the people “By this you shall know that among you is the living God.”

He also said, “the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is going to pass before you into the Jordan.”

Maturity in the faith always begins by pointing the way to God. In doing this, Joshua is pointing out two very important points of faith.

First, He is pointing out that the what they are about to witness in an indication of the Presence of God among them. Now that may appear to be rather obvious but it’s important to remember that up to this point the evidence of God’s Presence was seen in the Cloud of God’s Presence by day and a pillar of fire by night. As Joshua instructs the priests to take up the covenant of the Lord, which is the Arch of the Covenant, it now becomes the evidence or the symbol of God’s Presence. You see, God was about to do something new. The cloud and fire had been a symbol of wilderness wandering but now God was providing a more permanent symbol and it was up to the people to keep it before them.

The second thing that Joshua was pointing out was that their eyes were to be fixed on the Arch so that they could see where God was leading them and they would not be focusing on the obstacles along the way.

Crossing the Jordan was not a “one-man” job.

I’ve got a question for you. How often do you argue with God about what you know that God is calling you to do? We can come up with lots of great excuses to justify the obstacles we see preventing us from accomplishing God’s will. But you see, although there may be 100 very good reasons for not doing what God has called us to do, there is only one reason why we should. God has called us to be faithful. Jesus said it like this, “If anyone would come after me, he/she must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me.”

Crossing the Jordan was not a “one-man” job.

Leading the Children of Israel through the Jordan River was not just dependent on Joshua and his relationship with God. It was a shared mission. “So now select twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe.”

That is exactly where you and I are at this given point in time. We are all called to ministry. For some of us, it to ordination. To some, it is in leadership in the music ministry or Stephen Ministry of our church. Whoever we are and wherever we are we are all called as ministers of the Gospel. For the church to be the church it requires all of us. God has placed everyone of us in a strategic place in the world so that we can share the love of God far and near. AS a matter of fact, there mere fact that we are in this place today is evidence of this. All of the saints whose names are called in this service impacted the world in many different places among many different people. They have, as it were, stepped in the water so that we and those who come after us, might keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.

Where is God calling us to “Step in the Water?”

Just as the saints who have gone before us did, God is calling us to lead God’s people into God’s preferred future for God’s people

Where is it that God is calling us to “Step in the Water?”