Take The Plunge

The first step is always the hardest. Anytime we are challenged to do something new, the most difficult part is simply getting started.

The priests will carry the Ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth. As soon as their feet touch the water, the flow of water will be cut off upstream, and the river will stand up like a wall.” So the people left their camp to cross the Jordan, and the priests who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant went ahead of them.  It was the harvest season, and the Jordan was overflowing its banks. But as soon as the feet of the priests who were carrying the Ark touched the water at the river’s edge,  the water above that point began backing up a great distance away at a town called Adam, which is near Zarethan. And the water below that point flowed on to the Dead Sea until the riverbed was dry. Then all the people crossed over near the town of Jericho. Joshua 3:13-16 (New Living Translation, NLT)

When Joshua and the Israelites crossed over the Jordan River into the promised land, the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant had to first place their feet into the Jordan in order for the nation to be able to cross over. Dipping our feet in a river may not seem like a big deal to us, but the Jordan was at flood stage and the waters were not shallow or calm. In addition, they were carrying the Ark, so their minds were no doubt filled with all kinds of concerns about what could go wrong. My mind envisions whitewater rafting and the churning waters as adventure-seekers shoot the rapids. This may be what the priests were seeing when they set out. Yet when they put their feet in, the water stopped flowing downstream and the riverbed became a crosswalk.

I wonder how many things we’ve missed out on, how many miraculous adventures we have bypassed by playing it safe. I would rather say that I took the first step of faith and found out that I was wrong rather than to never step out at all. I don’t want to look back and wonder what might have happened if I only had the guts to take a risk. I don’t know about you, but some of the biggest blessings of my life took place when I ventured out in faith and tried something that I was not at all sure about. Playing it safe is highly overrated. While a roadmap is a comfortable way to travel, sometimes God just wants us to step out like Abraham- not knowing the exact destination but trusting that He does.

So, don’t look at the rushing waters swirling and churning violently in front of you. Seek God, and if you believe He is telling you to, then take the plunge and step in. The water may be cold at first, but it will quickly recede and God will lead you- and others- across on dry ground. Trust Him- that’s what the Christian walk is all about.