Between a Rock and a Dry Place

^"4 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, ⁵ and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, ⁶ to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ ⁷ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.”  Joshua 4:4-7

Have you ever noticed that when you’re in over your head the depth of the water doesn’t really matter any more; or felt the troubles of life come gushing along like the Jordan River at flood stage when the snow on Hermon begins to melt? When faced with the surging waters of life we need something to anchor our faith, something other than the rising water to fix our eyes on.  That’s why God instructed Joshua to select twelve men to collect stones from the dry river-bed; not because God needed a memorial, but because his people needed a reminder; we still do. So many times throughout the history of the ancient Israelites the Lord intervened powerfully on their behalf, time and time again he proved faithful.Yet time and time again the Israelites were quick to forget all that the Lord had done for them. Is this beginning to sound familiar? God knew that the Israelites would forget again; he knew that they needed something to look back on; something tangible, something solid; something that every time they looked at it their faith would be renewed and strengthened. He wanted to ensure that the generations to come would hear of his faithfulness and love for his people.The ancient Israelites knew how important it was to instruct their children about that which they were most passionate; God. It’s easy to forget what God has done when the worries of life are at low-tide. Can I ask you a personal question - I promise it’s just between you and me - how often has God rescued you from deep water only to have you forget as soon as your feet were back on dry land? Can I have a show of hands please? I’ve got my hand up, how about you?

A few years ago after reading this passage of scripture I decided it was about time I started piling up some stones of my own; so I got myself a journal and I started filling it up with stones from the river-bed, some small, others large, dry stones from dry ground; reminders to myself and to my children of the many times that God has intervened in the Jordan River circumstances of my life; a memorial to my God; and a powerful reminder to myself of all that God has done; a memorial to the fact that no matter how impossible the situation may appear, God can and still does intervene.

So now when I feel the waters beginning to swirl around my ankles and creep slowly up to my knees; when the situation I’m facing appears impossible, I can simply flip open my journal, look at the “memorials,” and be reminded of the many times that God has rescued me; has stopped up the water long enough for me to cross my own Jordan River on dry ground.