In short, when Joshua was leading the Israelite people into the land God had promised them, they had come to a point where they needed to cross the Jordan River in its flood stage. The Ark of the Covenant, the key item that symbolized the presence of God, was carried by the priests into the river and the water stopped flowing so that all of the people could cross on dry land. Incredible.
The lesson of this story? Amazing things happen in the river. Not on the ledge, not with toes in the water, but when you’ve jumped in. We often think, “God, hey, you do something awesome to prove you’re in this, and then I’ll get involved.” That is not faith, and God very rarely operates this way. God would say, “Have faith in me – jump in – and I will show up in powerful ways. You have to jump in to see what’s amazing.”
We see it over and over again. “Noah, build an ark.” “Moses, approach the most powerful leader on the planet and give him the what for.” “Joshua, walk around this city for 7 days.” “Gideon, take less guys and grab some jars.” “David, yeah you – the teenager – go grab 5 stones.” “Daniel, pray even when it’s illegal.” “Peter, leave your nets and livelihood behind and follow me.” And EVERYTIME, God did what He promised. He shows up. He delivers. He takes care of business. He transforms the lives of those involved and of those impacted.
We need to get our toes out of the water. Did God intend for us to just be slightly better versions of humankind? Did He intend for us to just be more civilized? To do the same thing year after year, after year, after year…
Or did God intend for us to be a part of something supernatural? Of something impossible, awesome, and dream-worthy? If this is it, then He calls us to jump in the river. Otherwise, we’ll “miss it” and faith will be boring. It will be same old vanilla day-to-day, and we’ll call it “walking with Jesus.” Of course, in reading the scriptures, it doesn’t seem like walking with Jesus was very boring. It seemed, well, impossible, awesome, dream-worthy, and supernatural. Why should we expect much different?
How do we jump in? Get involved in the inner-city. I don’t mean look for a semi-annual project, I mean jump in and get involved. Watch a kid’s life change because you and Jesus connect with them consistently over the next months and years really loving them. Invest in the lives of those around you that are exploring Jesus or those that are completely lost. Check out the roundtable discussions coming soon on how we can work together in ministering to the homeless and those locked into human trafficking nightmares. Start believing Jesus’ words that “where your treasure is, your heart is also” and give to his kingdom work – the church, local partnerships, or missions.
Break the staleness of normalcy, and jump in. Your best years are NOT behind you.
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Thanks to the always insightful Joe Caruso.
Article reposted from the GiveItAway Blog of Grace Church
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This morning, I just typed “thank*” into my Bible’s search engine and began to scroll through 100+ places where the word is used. One in particular made me take pause. Here are some lyrics of a song which was written to praise our God:
