"Crossing over" is founded on the confidence that God will lead the way. Coupled with her fears was the written conclusion in one entry: " if Mark were killed in a car accident I know You would give me the grace to not only survive but to also experience joy once again.” On days when torrents of grief threatened to wash her away, the memory of this Spirit-led consecration gave her enough strength to trust God and to withstand the discouraging whispers of the Enemy, who always wants us to turn back, to give up, at the water’s edge. Although she had also written prayers for our other children, Mark’s name appeared more frequently, even in the context of possibly losing him in a car accident. She wept as she realized that in the months before the accident, God had led her to repeatedly surrender our son to God’s protection and sovereign plans. Several days after our sixteen-year-old son’s death, God led Sharon to review her most recent journal entries.
The very act of consecration reminded them that the coming campaign was not for their own glory, but for God’s glory alone. "Crossing over" requires a readiness to undergo suffering and loss in serving the Lord.īefore crossing the Jordan, Joshua also called the people to set themselves apart in preparation for God’s mighty work ( Joshua 3:5). Moreover, Joshua and the people were not just to read the Word, but they were commanded to obey it (see Joshua 1:8-9) When God transferred leadership from Moses to Joshua, He tied His promise to go with the people to a command that Joshua and his fellow Israelites must study and meditate daily on God’s Word, God’s Law, as given to them through Moses.
Crossing Over – What Does it Take?Ī commitment to “crossing over” requires a clear direction from the Word of God. But God used this very obstacle to establish Joshua as their anointed leader ( Joshua 3:7) and to prepare them for the even more difficult challenge ahead (vv. Unless God intervened as He had at the Red Sea, the Israelites would have to wait until the flood season passed. ( Joshua 1:3-5)īetween the Israelites and Jericho stood the Jordan River. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you I will never leave you nor forsake you. No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses…. Just as God has promised Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and Moses that He would never leave them, the great “I AM,” Jehovah God of Israel, promised Joshua, God’s call to Joshua linked him to all those who had come before him. Moses was now dead, and Joshua was God’s anointed leader. To get there, though, they, too, had to cross over a body of water: the Jordan River. They stood poised on the edge of the Promised Land. Forty years later their offspring faced a similar challenge. The first generation of Israelites who walked out of Egypt, freed from slavery, paid a grave price because they refused to take a risk when confronted with the enemies of God. The old has passed away behold, the new has come." ( 2 Corinthians 5:17) Crossing over is committing to live in Christ, " Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The future looks bleak, and we know that once we set foot upon a particular course of action, there will be no going back. The Christian life is marked by innumerable big and little “decision points,” places in our lives where we cannot stand still but are also almost too afraid to move forward.
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