I believe in miracles…..

Finally the day has come. It is time to cross the River Jordan. It’s been a long time in coming. Can you remember back to the middle of October when God delivered the Israelites from the Egyptians and enabled them to miraculously cross the Red Sea? That was forty years ago. Forty years! No way should this journey have taken that long. God had to wait until the people had learnt to trust and obey Him and that had taken a very, very long time.

Here’s how it happened.

Early in the morning, Joshua led the people out from Shittim to the shores of the River Jordan where they camped for three nights. He explained that when they saw the ark of the covenant moving forward, then they could move too, as long as they kept their distance.

God tells Joshua He will prove to the people He is with him, just as He was with Moses. The priests are instructed to take the ark into the river and the people are all instructed to follow and watch. At this time, during harvest, the waters are at flood level.

I wonder if you can guess what happens.

It’s happened on a larger scale before.

Yes, as soon as the ark enters the water, the water from upstream stopped flowing. The priests wait in the middle of the river on a dry river bed until all the people have crossed over to the other side. A whole nation has crossed over a river without getting wet.

This is the same God. The God who delivered this nation from Egypt has been with them on this whole journey. God is the same yesterday, today and forever.

Before they leave the river, one man from each of the twelve tribes selects a stone from the middle of the river bed to carry with them on their shoulder to the place where they stop for the night. The stones are placed together as a memorial of this special event.

God’s plan has worked. The people are now in awe of Joshua as they were of Moses. They know that God is with him. They trust him as their leader. They will do whatever he tells them to do.

Because as soon as all the people have crossed over the river and the priests have brought the ark safely to the other side of the river Jordan, then the waters flowed back and ran at flood stage as before.

And when all the other kings heard of this miraculous act of God, guess what? Yes, their hearts melted in fear and their courage failed.  Job done.

What a story! I can’t believe I’ve never heard that before. The Bible is full of surprises, that’s for sure. What a wonderfully significant act!

Three verses stood out to me in these chapters and I’d love to share them with you  (in reverse order) –

He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.  Joshua 4:24

God acts in this story so that everyone will know how powerful He is and worthy of awe and fear and respect and obedience.

And God still acts today so that everyone will know how powerful He is and worthy of awe and fear and respect and obedience.

I believe in miracles. I really do.

It’s funny – Jordan was singing that song last night and I challenged him.

Me: Do you?

Jordan: Do I what?

Me: Believe in miracles.

Jordan: No (in that ‘what? are you crazy?’ voice reserved to be used on mad mothers)

Me: I do.

SILENCE

It’s hard because in our house, we don’t see actual physical miracles where something inexplicable happens that has no scientific and rational explanation. Everything can be explained away as a coincidence. If that’s the way you like to see it.

But God does act in those kind of miraculous ways all over the world – I’ve read some of the stories and heard some firsthand accounts of God’s miraculous provision and protection and deliverance. (If you’re local, just talk to Jimmy Thompson about some of his experiences about smuggling Bibles into Eastern Europe if you need convincing.)

And I know in our lives, God has caused a miracle. An emotional miracle. He has turned the most desperate of situations into good. He has delivered us from our despair and provided the words we have needed and protected us and our family.

On the afternoon of Friday 23rd January, it felt like our world was about to fall in around our ears. Now we can look back and see how God has been with us. Where we find ourselves as a family now compared to then certainly feels like a miracle. I’ll recount the whole story tomorrow.

Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord.   Joshua 4:5-7

Symbols matter. Symbols are a prompt. Symbols prompt people to ask questions. I was brought up in a church tradition where symbols were frowned upon – we met in a school hall and didn’t have a cross anywhere on display. But I do think that being able to hold something or look at something as a visual reminder of the greatness of God is a really, really good thing. Anything that prompts discussion about the greatness of God has to be a really, really good thing.

What symbols do you have that hold significance for you?

When do you talk to your children about these symbols?

What items remind you of the greatness of God?

Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.”  Joshua 3:5

I love this. It’s all about being ready. Sometimes what we are doing can feel pointless and futile, but we have no idea what God has in store for us tomorrow and how what we are doing today is preparing us for those amazing things.

It reminds me of the Picasso quote –

 

In any kind of creativity, it’s not about waiting for inspiration. It’s about getting started – painting, writing, playing music……. – and letting the inspiration find you working. It may find you today, or tomorrow, or next week……you need to be ready, be preparing yourself, be working to be the best you can be.

And so in life, it’s not about waiting for God to give you something amazing to do. It’s about getting ready, using the everyday to prepare for the amazing, being the best you can be in the mundane.

I love this perspective. It gives me hope. It gives significance to all the everyday stuff that I find so futile.

None of us know what tomorrow will bring. That’s why today’s journey is so important.