Facing the Fearful River

Today’s scripture:

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)

Have you ever had to face something so terrifying and fearful you didn’t think you could go through with it? Of course you have. We have all been there, and if you haven’t yet… you soon will. You may be going through something right now that seems to be such a violent storm that only God could calm. Your current circumstance may seem like the most dangerous raging river you ever had to cross.

When we think about the awesome power of God, we look at scriptures like when He saved the Israelites by parting the Red Sea. But what about after Moses died and God gave the leadership roll to Joshua telling him to lead the Israelites across the Jordan River (Joshua 1)? See, when God led them up to the Red Sea, the Israelites did not have much faith and God knew it. He knew they had to grow in their faith so He parted that huge body of water before their very eyes. Yes, it still took faith to cross it even on dry ground. “What if the water would come back over us as we walk through”, they may have thought.

So, God first showed the Israelites that they could trust Him. Then, He brought another faith building situation… the Jordan River. You may think, “A river? That’s not a big deal compared to the sea.” Well, there are a couple of things to understand here. First, the time they had to cross, the river was in flood stage, which was the most active dangerous time. The other thing to understand is the Lord did not stop the water from flowing before they had to step into it like He did at the Red Sea. They had to act in faith before they saw any signs that God was going to do what He said He was going to do. They had to put their faith into action by remembering what God did before and know that He will keep His promise.

If you refer to a blog that I wrote titled “Revelation through Captivity” I mentioned that I was incarcerated. After spending 45 days in jail, I had to battle with the situation of being separated from my family with absolutely no contact of any kind and I lost my job that I had at Liberty Bible Church for exactly 6 years. I got real used to the idea and security of having that job. I was so comfortable in the thought of working around good Christain people I was fearful of going anywhere else.

The metaphor of the Jordan River for me came several times over the course of the last 5 months starting when I had to spend 6 weeks in jail, having no idea when I would get out. Having never experienced jail before, God wanted me to face my fears and teach me to rely on Him all over again in a deeper way. I was weakening in my belief that God is always in control and forgetting that God did not give me a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a strong mind (2 Timothy 1:7).

When God takes you through something that is fearful, remember He is not taking you through it so that you will be in fear because He does not bring that kind of spirit. He brings the spirit of power over that fear. He brings a spirit of perfect love that can cast out those fears (1 John 4:18) because He is love and He is perfect. He also brings a spirit that strengthens your mind with knowledge of His Word and the wisdom to live it out.

Reflection:

Are you at a point in your life that you know God is saying take a step of faith? Maybe everything around you is saying you will sink if you take that step. If you believe God is requiring you to step, just believe He is giving you the power to take that step. That power has to start in your mind. Having the strong mind of faith that God will provide a way. Just live out your faith and put it into action.

Challenge:

Chances are you will come to the Jordan River sometime soon if not now. But, even now you may be faced with just a small river to cross. Life is full of small rivers every day. It may be that your facing a new job change, or working with someone that is difficult, or cleaning up after your dog when he devours the garbage. Then again you may be facing much more difficult times. Whatever it is, practice your faith in God by just making that choice to cross it no matter the circumstance.

-Doug McGowan