Number one: Expect Natural Problems: 8 You shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, saying, 'When you have come to the edge of the water of the Jordan, you shall stand in the Jordan.' " 9 So Joshua said to the children of Israel, "Come here, and hear the words of the Lord your God." 10 And Joshua said, "By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Hivites and the Perizzites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Jebusites:
Joshua 3
There was a very real barrier of the Jordan River as well as enemies. There also were internal problems of fear (see Joshua 1 on how many times God said be courageous). Jesus promised in this world you will have tribulation. Face those problems head on, don’t expect to avoid them but to go through them.
Phillip Yancey wrote a book called Prayer: Does It Make A Difference? and in it, he said there are no coincidences, but God-incidents. Your problems are there, not because there is no God or that prayer makes no difference, but that God wants you to go through the problems with prayer.
Number two: Expect Supernatural Provision: 11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over before you into the Jordan. 12 Now therefore, take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from every tribe. 13 And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, the waters that come down from upstream, and they shall stand as a heap."
Joshua 3
Remember the story of the wise man who built his house on the rock and the foolish man who built his house on the sand? The same winds, rains and flood hit both, but one man’s house stood firm, the other man’s house fell flat. The difference was the foundation; one man heard and did what Jesus said. The other man heard but did not obey. See Matthew 7:24-27.
Joshua 3:11 says God is in charge of all the earth. It is He who answers prayers, and not just because you pray it. Even Jesus prayed God’s will be done, so expect God to answer, but not necessarily YOUR answers.
Game day is coming. But before game day, there is practice. There comes a time when you have to place your feet in the water: that’s game day. But until then, be in practice of hearing and doing what Jesus taught us to do. And He taught us above all to pray, expecting supernatural provision.
Number three: Expect Spiritual Perseverance: 14 So it was, when the people set out from their camp to cross over the Jordan, with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, 15 and as those who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks during the whole time of harvest), 16 that the waters which came down from upstream stood still, and rose in a heap very far away at Adam, the city that is beside Zaretan. So the waters that went down into the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, failed, and were cut off; and the people crossed over opposite Jericho. 17 Then the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan; and all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the people had crossed completely over the Jordan.
Joshua 3
God’s desire for us is to be conformed into His image. T.W. Hunt said, “Persistency is not begging God. It does not change God, but it does change you.” We can expect problems and we can expect God to provide, but He expects us to pray with perseverance.
Notice in verse 12 that there was unity and partnership in the people. God wants us to pray with one another as an encouragement to jointly pray and come together. If we are created in God’s image and God seeks fellowship, then we too should seek fellowship and the prayers of others.
The priests held in their hands the essence of the presence of God. We too are to be light to the world, holding in our hearts the Holy Spirit, the very presence of God.
Perseverance may mean that we are to be the answer to someone else’s prayer. Prov. 21:13 says if we don’t help others, then why should God help us? Isaiah 58 says even praying and fasting won’t move God if it doesn’t move us to action. Henry Cloud says in his book How People Grow that God’s “Plan A” is not the miraculous, but to use people to accomplish His will. Because the priests expected God to answer, the people were able to walk across on dry ground.
“And he spoke a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint” Luke 18:1
“Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.” (Matt. 18:19)
Don’t settle for less, ask for God-sized answers. The Bible commands us to pray (Phil. 4:6-7) and chides us when we don’t.
“But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering, for he who waivers is like the wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. Do not let that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord.” James 1:6-7
“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Heb. 11:6
Dear Lord, despite all odds, I believe you and expect to have you answer. Never let my doubts or the opposition ever take my faith away. Amen.
Dear Lord, despite all odds, I believe you and expect to have you answer. Never let my doubts or the opposition ever take my faith away. Amen.
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