The Path of God
Joshua 3:15-16 Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water's edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea ) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho.
I am reminded of a scene from the famous movie “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”. In this movie we see Indiana is supposed to cross a bottomless chasm or gorge to obtain the Holy Grail. In his father’s diary he remembers the clue to cross the bottomless chasm, that is, “The Path of God - Only in a leap from the lion's head will he prove his worth”. He needs to get to the door on the other side, but he cannot jump since it is too far away. It becomes a test of faith for Indiana and he finally takes a leap of faith to discover an "invisible" bridge, which is camouflaged to match the opposite wall. Even though this story is fictional, it does teach us a good principle.
We see the same principle being exhibited by the Israelites when God tells them to cross the river Jordon. God tells Joshua, their leader, to tell the priests carrying the ark to step into the waters of Jordan. In my logical and human sense, if my children are playing near a river I will tell them to stay away, since they could slip into it or possibly drown, if they did not know swimming. However, if the river is in flooding stage, I will surely tell them to stay away at least a mile, from the path of the river. The Jordan river is currently in a flooding stage and God is telling the Israelite priests to step into the water. I wonder why God would tell his own children such a strange command, whereas I would have told my children to stay away.
As I read further I see why God told this strange command, we see that as soon as, “their feet touched the water's edge” the Jordon river is separated and dry ground is formed in the middle of the Jordan for the Israelites to pass through. Isn’t that amazing! Until the feet of the priests carrying the ark of covenant did not touch the waters the miracle did not take place.
We see that only when the Israelites put forward in action their faith in God did they see the miracle. Many times we hear the Word of God or we know what God wants us to do but we fail to do it. Fear overcomes our decisions and plans. In times of turmoil we start doubting God’s faithfulness and protection. We start questioning God and we fail to act our faith.
The Bible says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).” Many times we boast that we have the faith in Jesus, but faith without action is meaningless. It is also interesting to observe that during regular season it would have been easy for somebody to put their feet in the river Jordan, but God seems to be asking them to put it when it was in a stage of flood. Our faith is only tested when we are in times of trouble, turmoil or in situations where all logic and human wisdom seems meaningless.
An example from the Bible to illustrate faith in action; During the time of famine, only when the widow from Zarephath gave her last morsel of food to Elijah, did she see her miracle, that is the flour and oil did “not run dry until the day the LORD gives rain on the land.”
Danforth Goff, a close friend of mine from our church, when he was on his death bed, the doctor who was going to put on a respirator asked him if he was afraid. He answered, “Fear is like Indiana Jones walking across that invisible bridge over the gorge. Walking by faith. Only difference is that my bridge is Jesus, so with that in mind He erases my fear and makes me feel safe”.
Danforth is now with the Lord, but his insurmountable faith even at the face of death is a sure testimony for all of us. Are you too today going through a time that is testing your faith? What are you doing about it? Are you just sitting back and waiting for things to happen on their own? Maybe it is time to leap out in faith knowing that Jesus is your bridge and the path of God is Faith in action.
Stanley Samuel
I am reminded of a scene from the famous movie “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”. In this movie we see Indiana is supposed to cross a bottomless chasm or gorge to obtain the Holy Grail. In his father’s diary he remembers the clue to cross the bottomless chasm, that is, “The Path of God - Only in a leap from the lion's head will he prove his worth”. He needs to get to the door on the other side, but he cannot jump since it is too far away. It becomes a test of faith for Indiana and he finally takes a leap of faith to discover an "invisible" bridge, which is camouflaged to match the opposite wall. Even though this story is fictional, it does teach us a good principle.
We see the same principle being exhibited by the Israelites when God tells them to cross the river Jordon. God tells Joshua, their leader, to tell the priests carrying the ark to step into the waters of Jordan. In my logical and human sense, if my children are playing near a river I will tell them to stay away, since they could slip into it or possibly drown, if they did not know swimming. However, if the river is in flooding stage, I will surely tell them to stay away at least a mile, from the path of the river. The Jordan river is currently in a flooding stage and God is telling the Israelite priests to step into the water. I wonder why God would tell his own children such a strange command, whereas I would have told my children to stay away.
As I read further I see why God told this strange command, we see that as soon as, “their feet touched the water's edge” the Jordon river is separated and dry ground is formed in the middle of the Jordan for the Israelites to pass through. Isn’t that amazing! Until the feet of the priests carrying the ark of covenant did not touch the waters the miracle did not take place.
We see that only when the Israelites put forward in action their faith in God did they see the miracle. Many times we hear the Word of God or we know what God wants us to do but we fail to do it. Fear overcomes our decisions and plans. In times of turmoil we start doubting God’s faithfulness and protection. We start questioning God and we fail to act our faith.
The Bible says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).” Many times we boast that we have the faith in Jesus, but faith without action is meaningless. It is also interesting to observe that during regular season it would have been easy for somebody to put their feet in the river Jordan, but God seems to be asking them to put it when it was in a stage of flood. Our faith is only tested when we are in times of trouble, turmoil or in situations where all logic and human wisdom seems meaningless.
An example from the Bible to illustrate faith in action; During the time of famine, only when the widow from Zarephath gave her last morsel of food to Elijah, did she see her miracle, that is the flour and oil did “not run dry until the day the LORD gives rain on the land.”
Danforth Goff, a close friend of mine from our church, when he was on his death bed, the doctor who was going to put on a respirator asked him if he was afraid. He answered, “Fear is like Indiana Jones walking across that invisible bridge over the gorge. Walking by faith. Only difference is that my bridge is Jesus, so with that in mind He erases my fear and makes me feel safe”.
Danforth is now with the Lord, but his insurmountable faith even at the face of death is a sure testimony for all of us. Are you too today going through a time that is testing your faith? What are you doing about it? Are you just sitting back and waiting for things to happen on their own? Maybe it is time to leap out in faith knowing that Jesus is your bridge and the path of God is Faith in action.
Stanley Samuel
posted by Danesh Manik | 3:28 PM
|
0 comments
