Day 74: Soggy Shoes

Then Joshua set up in Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken from the Jordan, and he said to the Israelites, “In the future, when your children ask their fathers, ‘What is the meaning of these stones?’ you should tell your children, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried up the water of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, just as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up before us until we had crossed over. This is so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord’s hand is strong, and so that you may always fear the Lord your God.” Joshua 4:20–24

Bravery is not simply an attitude, it’s an action. For Christ-followers, bravery is putting feet to our faith even if that means walking uphill, in the rain, in roller-skates. Sometimes bravery means choosing to take the first step even though we’re secretly shaking in our boots. It means trusting God more than we fear failure, abandonment, disapproval, or even death. And it’s not a tribal mentality either, it’s a singular decision of faith. Frankly, sometimes what the world calls “brave” is actually just a pack of frightened folks running like lemmings in the same direction.

One of my favorite stories of bravery is found in Joshua chapter 3 when our spiritual ancestors, the Israelites, make it to the finish line of their forty-year trek to the Promised Land. All that stands between them and their inheritance is the Jordan River. However, since it’s at flood stage and the water is much higher (likely overflowing, actually) and rougher than usual, it probably looked nearly as impossible to cross as the Red Sea had at the beginning of their liberation adventure all those years before.

Yet instead of supernaturally paving a path through the water without asking them to lift a finger to help like He did at the Red Sea (see Exod. 14:13–14, 21–22), God now tells His people that this time they’re going to have to participate in the miracle instead of simply observing it:

The Lord spoke to Joshua: “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so they will know that I will be with you just as I was with Moses. Command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant: When you reach the edge of the water, stand in the Jordan.” . . . Now the Jordan overflows its banks throughout the harvest season. But as soon as the priests carrying the ark reached the Jordan, their feet touched the water at its edge and the water flowing downstream stood still, rising up in a mass that extended as far as Adam, a city next to Zarethan. The water flowing downstream into the Sea of the Arabah—the Dead Sea—was completely cut off, and the people crossed opposite Jericho. The priests carrying the ark of the Lord’s covenant stood firmly on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel crossed on dry ground until the entire nation had finished crossing the Jordan. (Josh. 3:7–8, 15–17)

Here’s the deal, y’all. God’s people hadn’t learned to recognize His voice yet when they encountered the Red Sea. They’d just started their walk of faith . . . they weren’t even out of spiritual diapers. But when they got to the edge of the Jordan River, they’d experienced four long decades of Jehovah’s presence, protection, and provision. The Creator of the Universe actually condescended to reveal Himself to them tangibly—as a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night (Exod. 13:21–22)—for goodness sakes! They should’ve been more than ready to step up and get their hands dirty, or feet wet, as it were. It was time to practice all that preaching they’d heard from Big Moe!

• How about you? What new territory has God been prompting you to step bravely into?
• Let’s say you are facing something new that looks a little familiar—perhaps a struggle you’ve endured before that is rearing its ugly head. What might you miss out on if you don’t ask God for fresh direction, but simply coast on the way He led you last time?
• In this passage, the people of God are braving the waters together. In this season of your life, what community is walking with you through the waters?