In case you don't get my partner letter...

This is what I've been thinking about the past few days...

Joshua 1:10 Joshua then commanded the leaders of Israel, “Go through the camp and tell the people to get their provisions ready. In three days you will cross the Jordan and take possession of the land the LORD your God has given you.”

So after all the years in the desert, it was finally happening. God had promised, and now the leader Joshua said it was finally gonna happen!
But there seemed to be an obstacle.
The Jordan River. (You realize if you were a generation born and raised in the desert, you wouldn’t be a real strong swimmer.)
The ark was sent before them because they had never traveled that way before. So they were literally following God.
When they arrive at the river, things are worse than they thought! Because of harvest season, the banks were overflowing! (3:15)
But Joshua heard from that LORD, “the priests will be carrying the Ark of the LORD…when their feet touch the water, the flow of water will be cut off upstream, and the river will pile up there in one heap…” (3:13.)
So I can imagine the men getting excited.
“Yeah, I know what is gonna happen. This is like when Moses led our grandparents out of Egypt. My grandpa use to tell me all about it. Moses held up his staff and then the waters all parted and everyone walked across on dry land. So if Joshua says the Lord is commanding this, let’s do it! It’s gonna be an awesome sight to see!”
And so the priests start across.
Splash………splash splash…….splash splashsplash……..nothing.
Not a thing. They looked around, but the water was still flowing around their feet, then their knees, then their waste. Then they stood still waiting…nothing.
I can imagine what they were thinking now.
“What the heck? Man, where is this great miracle? Oh, I bet that Joshua was wrong! Nothing is happening!”
But they were wrong. The bible says, “But as soon as the feet of the priests who were carrying the Ark touched the water at the river’s edge, the water began piling up at a town upstream called Adam.” (3:13)
Adam was a town 7 miles away.
So it happened exactly as God said it would, but not as the men understood. “And the water below that point flowed to the Dead Sea until the river bed was dry. Then all the people crossed over near the city of Jericho.” (3:16)
Sometimes God sets wheels in motion, but it takes a long time for the results to reach us.
That’s how I’ve been feeling about some things over here. God spoke some things to be in January that I believe to be true. And now I’m taking the steps of faith forward…but I see no evidence around me. Nothing seems to be happening.
But I’m encouraged that God is always true to his word.