“STEP IN”
Written by Stephen Young
Joshua 3:7-13: The Lord told Joshua, “Today I will begin to make you a great leader in the eyes of all the Israelites. They will know that I am with you, just as I was with Moses. Give this command to the priests who carry the Ark of the Covenant: “When you reach the banks of the Jordan River, take a few steps into the river and stop there.” So Joshua told the Israelites, “Come and listen to what the Lord your God says. Today you will know that the living God is among you. He will surely drive out the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites ahead of you. Look, the Ark of the Covenant, which belongs to the Lord of the whole earth, will lead you across the Jordan River! Now choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. The priests will carry the Ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth. As soon as their feet touch the water, the flow of water will be cut off upstream, and the river will stand up like a wall.” NLT
Earlier this week the Lord gave me those two words, “step in.” Throughout the week I’ve been thinking about those two words and I was reminded of the above passage. In this passage they were told that the Ark of the Covenant would lead them across the Jordan River and they were told that as soon as their feet touched the water the river would stand up like a wall. That had to have taken a little faith, or a lot! Can you imagine as you approach a body of water thinking, “All I have to do is step in, the flow of water will stop, and the river will stand up like a wall so I can cross over?” Yes, I’m sure faith was involved!
Here’s the key, the only thing they had to do is step in, and God would take care of the rest. What I heard the Lord say very clearly was, “Step in, if you will just step in I will part the waters and I will lead you to the other side.” Now, this isn’t always easy. Taking a step into the unknown can be very uncomfortable but you have to know that if God is telling you to take a step He will take care of the details. Kristen and I are in that position in our own lives right now, one step at a time. We don’t see the next step beyond this step but it doesn’t matter. God says, take a step, we take a step. We, as humans, want all the details lined up but God just doesn’t operate that way. We walk by faith not by sight and that means that sometimes you take a step in faith when what you see doesn’t make sense. Stepping out with all the facts isn’t faith because you have all the facts in front of you. Stepping out when the facts don’t make sense or when you don’t have any facts at all is faith.
So, step in. I believe many of you reading this are on one side of the river and you can see your purpose, your dream, and your destiny on the other side but the river is what’s in your way. God says, step in and I will lead you across on dry ground. In verse 11 is says: “Look, the Ark of the Covenant, which belongs to the Lord of the whole earth, will lead you across the Jordan River!” Here’s the best part about you and I today. We have a better covenant then they had. We can cross over with the new covenant promises on the inside of us. We have Jesus, we have the Holy Spirit. The promises of the new covenant are better than the old covenant promises. Step in, because you’re a new covenant believer God will lead you across the river that stands between you and your destiny! It may not make sense to you and I guarantee it won’t make sense to others but it doesn’t matter, do what God is telling you to do and He will take care of the details. You will have critics but I saw this statement the other day and have to share it with you. “When you begin to step out in faith, your critics have to justify why they are still sitting in the boat!”
Step in and watch the waters part so that you can begin your journey to your destiny.
