Fear and dismay in the
face of man, is the death nil of all spiritual vigor.
"If thou faint in the day of
adversity, thy strength is small." This second
trip to the banks of the Promised Land must have been a little disconcerting
for Joshua. After all, he comprised a full 50% of the
survivors of his generation from the fiasco here at Kadesh forty
years prior. Added to that was the death of his mentor,
his untested leadership, the fickle loyalty of his followers, a
river at flood stage, and the ominous city of Jericho on the horizon.
The memory of failure and the ten traitor spies, albeit distant,
must surely have taunted him as well. For most of us, there
is a thin Jordon separating the familiar from the fearful.
We are not ignorant of GOD'S commands, just apprehensive.
We know that the apex of HIS will lies across the river, but the
water is swift, deep, formidable ... and if honest, frightening.
The sum of all fears is a SAVIOR-less situation. This man of GOD
however, met with the GOD of men, and came away with the
"victuals" needful
for obedience.
"... Prepare you victuals; for within three days ye shall
pass over this Jordan ..." Joshua in turn
fed the people with the same pottage of courage, in preparation
to do what GOD had commanded.
"This book of the law shall not depart
out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night,
that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written
therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then
thou shalt have good success." Many a child of
GOD find themselves on the wrong side of the river in a self
imposed famine of Heaven's "victuals".
"... Children, have ye
any meat? They answered HIM, No."
How pitiful, the vain attempts of GOD'S people to
obey GOD apart from the nutrients of new life found nowhere,
save HIS Word.
"When ye are come to the brink of the water of Jordan, ye
shall stand still in Jordan." Oh, the
blessedness of impossibility! Step into the water and
watch as all of Heaven and Earth move at HIS command to
accomplish HIS will. And never forget that at the flood
stage
of trial, HE commands all the dams and locks upstream.
"... for the
LORD thy GOD is with thee whithersoever thou goest."