Along the sea wall in Victoria, B.C.
I just returned from a trip to Canada with my daughter, her best friend, and her friend’s mother. The girls have been besties since they were toddlers. (The mothers are close as well. Lol) This was a trip to celebrate their high school graduations and the beginning of their college careers.
Before that, my husband and I had gone to Orlando as chaperones with ten kids from our church youth group to our denomination’s international youth conference. We were home one day before we had to leave the house at 5:00 am to catch another plane to Seattle.
Israel Crossing the Jordan
I’m exhausted.
I figure in the last two and a half weeks I’ve been in two countries, five cities, and slept in six different beds. I’ve traveled by plane, train, car, suspension bridge, water taxi, bus, bike, ferry, monorail, Uber, and taxi. And of course, by foot. We did a lot of walking.
First-world problems, I know.
In all that travel, I am reminded of God’s constant presence.
We talked to the girls about this huge transition in their lives by reminding them of the story of Joshua and Israel crossing the Jordan—a much more grueling journey.
There are so many points of analogy in this story.
- Before the river would part, the priests had to put a foot into the still-moving, flood-stage water.
Faith on our part is often the necessary precursor to God’s action. - The men had to be circumcised before the battle. This command had not been observed in the wilderness years. They also had been unable to celebrate Passover, and the first one since Mt Sinai was celebrated.
A new beginning is often a good time to rededicate our lives to God. - Manna stopped falling from the sky once they crossed. God would no longer be spoon-feeding them. They would need to provide their own food now on.
New beginnings often mean new responsibilities and challenges. - God had promised them the land, but they were going to have to do the work to take it. It wouldn’t be just handed over to them.
God often works this way when he fulfills a promise. We have to do our part. - They built a memorial on the other side using rocks from the middle of the river.
Sometimes we need to stop and take note of God working in our lives. We can hang on to those moments later during times He isn’t so easy to see. - This was a transition into an unknown land. Much would be new, even scary. Risky. Yet God had continually reminded them he would be wouldn’t leave them:
Life is uncertain.
The constancy of God’s presence is not.
