The Path Never Traveled

“Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore. And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the LORD will do wonders among you.” (Jos 3:4-5 AV)

 

This crossing was different in several ways from the Red Sea crossing.  In the Red Sea crossing, the water was heaped on both sides.  It did not take much guesswork at all to know what direction to take.  With the Egyptian army behind them, the choice to trust the LORD was a no-brainer.  Stay on the west bank and die, or trust the LORD, travel east through the Red Sea, and live.  There wasn’t much faith involved to the point there wasn’t much of a choice.  There was no ark to follow.  You simply followed the person(s) in front of you and Moses led the way.  The Jordan River crossing was different.  The water was heaped on one side only.  The ark and those baring it were the first to step into the river.  The instruction regarding the ark is rather strange.  They were not to come near to it.  The ark led the way, but they were not to come near to it.  The distance that was to be kept was equal to ¼ mile.  Given the heat of the desert, that would have been greater than any mirage which would have occurred.  The reason given is they had not come this way before.  All the more reason to come near to the ark, right?  But the LORD did not want them to approach the ark.  This was part of the plan.  Not approaching the ark was the way they needed to go.  They needed to learn to step out on faith.  Something the previous generation failed to do.

Our walk with God is a series of these steps.  We have never lived this life before.  Each day is a day of firsts.  Each trial is a new trial of faith.  Without faith, it is impossible to please Him.  Each day is a day when the LORD must go before us, but we have to learn to trust Him through it all.  We cannot have all the answers.  We don’t know what tomorrow will bring.  Today has its own river crossing.  Tomorrow will bring another.  Faith doesn’t have all the answers.  Faith obscures what we want to see, but cannot.  We have enough to follow and trust.  But not all.  The children of Israel had footprints in the sand.  They had the water on one side.  They had enough to follow.  But it was a way they had never gone before.  This is life.  We have never gone that way before.  Sometimes we wish we didn’t have to go that way.  Sometimes we wish we could stay with what is familiar.  Sometimes we wish we could remain in the wilderness and eke out a life.  Sometimes we wish we could stay wandering day after day with the LORD feeding us manna from heaven.  That is not life.  If we remain the same, we cease to grow.  We stand at the river’s bank almost every day.  It is uncomfortable.  It is scary.  We wish change would never come.  Life is not like this.  Change is inevitable.  Change which is sometimes very uncomfortable.  A river’s bank with all the mystery, changing environment, and an uncertain end is waiting for us.  We must step in.  It cannot be circumvented.  The ark is there in the midst.  We may not be able to see it, but it is there.  Waiting.  Encouraging us to wade in and trust.

I don’t portend having a handle on these river crossings.  In many ways, I am just like everyone else.  My river crossings can be just as dark and foreboding as anyone else’s river crossing.  There are no giants of faith.  There are no saints who have it all together and no matter what we face, we hit the river with enthusiasm and zeal.  David may have had his Goliath.  David also had his Saul.  David was a man of faith.  However, all one needs to do is read Psalm 23 and he quickly realizes as much faith David did have, he lacked at other times.  No one said the Christian life was easy.  In fact, life is difficult for all.  The difference is, that we have the ark.  Maybe we cannot always see it, but it is there.  We have the LORD Jesus Christ.  We have the Father.  We have the Holy Spirit.  We have not come this way before.  We never will.  There is always a new set of circumstances that we must face.  The LORD has promised that He will not ask us to go through something unique to us.  All temptations or trials are common to man.  The promise is that as we go through these things, He will be right there with us.  He will travel the crossing with us and will see that we endure all the way through to the other side.  We have not gone this way before.  God has.  Yes, we wish we could see the ark.  Don’t fret.  It is there.  Just step in and walk forward.  You will reach the other side.