The Bible is full of stories that demonstrate God’s promise to provide for us. Joshua 3 and 4 NIV is the account of Joshua and the Israelites crossing the Jordan River. The people of God were seeking to obey God through impossible circumstances and enter the promise land.
Joshua was faithful to God and a courageous leader. In Joshua 3:5, he told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.”I marvel at the confidence shown here. The Jordan River is about 100 feet across with depths ranging from 3 to 10 feet. Can you imagine knowing the dangerous task that lies ahead of you yet declaring the amazing power of God that will be realized in it?
Joshua wasn’t acting on a hunch. He heard directly from the Lord as He speaks to him in verse 7. And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses.Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters, go and stand in the river.’”
Go stand in the river? Yes! Don’t allow the sight of your challenges stop you from moving toward it. Joshua told them in verse 13 how the Lord was going to show that He was indeed with them. And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord—the Lord of all the earth—set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap.”
Even as the banks of this flood stage river overflowed, the water stopped flowing when the priests touched the river’s edge. They continued into the river with Ark of the Covenant and stood in the middle of it while the Israelites passed by. The symbol of God’s presence stood watch as He delivered them through this challenge.
The story continues in Chapter 4 as Joshua repeated the Lord’s instructions to the priests once everyone had passed through. So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you.
This may seem insignificant but it is not. The directive to pick up a stone in the middle of the Jordan River is to take a memento from this moment. The stones each priest secured from the middle of the Jordan River would serve as a reminder of God’s fulfilled promise.
Joshua continued in verses 6 and 7, In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.”
So how does this apply to us today? Right in the middle of your circumstance, find something to remind you of God’s favor and provision. Think about the ways God has shown himself even in the midst of the most difficult situations. Maybe it was the friend who called at just the right moment or the loving embrace of your spouse. Maybe it was connections that lead you to the right reproductive endocrinologist or the insurance approval on a previously denied procedure. Maybe it was an unexplainable peace on the anniversary of a loss.
Beth Forbus, of Sarah’s Laughter, uses this story in her support group for those walking through infertility as inspiration to create a tangible reminder of God’s provision for us. As we remember the ways God has provided for us, we assemble our own memorial stones. Each stone we gathered represents an act where God made a way and delivered us in the midst of the journey. She encouraged us to keep the stone figurines and display them somewhere we could be encouraged by their meaning. Some of these rock figurines can even be found in the nurseries of little miracle babies.
I encourage you to do the same. Familiarize yourself with Joshua 3 and 4 and gather your own stones. Even while I wait, I can acknowledge that God has been faithful and He as held back the river for me so many times. I am still moving toward my promise land even though I’m not quite sure where it is. I am sure, however, that God will strengthen me as move toward the family He has designed for me.
Hope-Filled Thought: God is with me through it all.
Prayer: Thank you Lord that you are faithful. Help me to see all of the ways, large and small, that you have provided and cared for me. Give me the courage to move towards the things that you have called me to knowing you are with me. I receive it and it is so. Amen.
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