This morning I was reminded of the story in the Bible of the waters parting and people crossing over from one side to the other. This is not that story, complete with chariots and chasing, the one many people think of first, but rather another story found here in a bigger story. Joshua succeeds Moses as leader of Israel and is given the task of leading the people into the promised land, across the Jordan River. God is incredibly good to Joshua and gives him what he needs to move forward with this huge responsibility. Just as He was with Moses, God promises Joshua that He will be with him, will not abandon him and will not fail to help him. God is for Joshua. This is clear. He encourages Joshua to be strong and courageous. God knows that what He was asking of Joshua was going to require a strength and courage that He was going to provide.
To cross over the Jordan during harvest when the waters were high and spilling over the banks would seem impossible. How would they do this? The priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant would just have to step into the water and stand, allowing the souls of their feet to make contact, and the waters would stop flowing, one side of water standing up in a heap, the other cut off from the flow. And then they would walk over to the middle of the river on dry ground, ground that not long before was covered with deep water. The priests stayed in the middle until all the people of Israel had crossed over to the other side, to the promise.
Joshua's task was a big one. Some accounts would say there were about 2,000,000 people who crossed over the Jordan into the Promised Land. That is a lot of people to lead. People are messy. People can be difficult, especially when life is hard and people grow tired. People can be difficult to motivate at the best of times, never mind when you ask the impossible of them.
My tasks are not so grand, and God is still for me. Such as they are, my tasks require a strength that is not my own. Like Joshua, like Moses, God is also with me, giving me what I need to be strong and courageous with what He asks of me. He wants me to go ahead and put my feet into the seemingly impossible and impassable waters, whatever they may be. If God asks the impossible of me, I know with all my heart that He will not abandon me at the water's edge.
So here I go, feet first.
