Inspired by Joshua 4:21-24
I came to understand the weight of the gospel during the summer before I entered high school. I was thirteen and I was on a mission trip with my youth group. That morning, we were asked to carry a stone around with us for the whole workday. In typical Abbey fashion, I decided to go all in and pick the biggest stone that would fit into my pocket, because why not go all in? I noticed that stone the entire day as I painted the exterior of a home of a wonderful woman living in St. Louis, Michigan. It was constantly there, constantly nagging, constantly weighing me down. During the evening program, it was explained to us that the stone is a representation of the weight of sin that has plagued us since we were born, and this sin makes a relationship with our good God impossible. However, God sent His son to bridge the gap and take on the punishment for our sins, yesterday, today, and forevermore, so that He no longer sees our sin and we can now enter into an eternal relationship with our good God the way it was always intended to be. Restoration. Salvation. So beautiful.
I cannot tell you how many times I had heard the gospel growing up. Between Sunday School, youth group, and church services, I probably heard the gospel hundreds of times. Despite that, I swear I never remember truly hearing and understanding the gospel until this day in a stuffy and hot gym in St. Louis, Michigan. The power of the gospel and God’s grace washed over me. Christ transformed me from the inside out and, from that day, my heart was forever changed. I did not become perfect on that day. Thirteen years have passed and I continue to fall short, fall to temptation and sin, and, for lack of a better term, screw up. However, the power of the gospel saved me, restored me, and transformed me, into the child of God that I now am so proud to be. I look forward to the day that I can dwell with God in eternity, all because of what Christ has done for me. What a gift and a beautiful thing, and I cannot help but wonder how often I truly take the time to remember God's faithfulness.
God's faithfulness is a characteristic that is not only made apparent in the stories of many believers, but it is also spattered all over the bible itself. Time and time again, God proves that He is faithful through His word and His actions. In Exodus 3:7-8, God promises Moses that He will lead the Israelites out of Egypt, out of slavery, and into the promised land. Throughout the span of Moses’ leadership, the Israelites fail time and time again, to the point of being left to wander in the wilderness for 40 years, yet God remains faithful to His promise. At the time of Moses’ death in Deuteronomy 24, the Israelites are standing right outside of the promised land in Moab and on the brink of inheriting the land God had promised them at the beginning of Exodus, even after years of disobedience to their God. In Joshua 1:2-3 and Joshua 1:5-6, God reminds their new leader, Joshua, of the promise and leads them right to the banks of the Jordan River, where they stand ready to step onto the land that was promised to them many years ago. In Joshua 3-4, they crossed the Jordan River on dry ground, a parallel to how their ancestors had crossed the Red Sea to be delivered from the Egyptians. During this time, God gives a very interesting command in Joshua 4:2-3. He asks for twelve men to pick up a stone from the middle of the Jordan and carry them to the place they will stay that evening. Joshua relays the message to them, and they obey.
Joshua 4:21-24
He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The Lord your God did to the Jordan what He had done to the Red Sea when He dried up before us until we had crossed over. He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.”
Not only does God bring them to the land that He promised the people of Israel, even prior to them leaving Egypt, but He does it in a miraculous way. Just as the Israelites were brought out of slavery by walking through the Red Sea on dry land, they were brought into the land promised to them by God years ago by walking through the Jordan River on dry land. By taking those twelve stones from the dry land on the bottom of the Jordan River and placing them onto the banks of the Jordan, they are able to see a tangible representation of all twelve tribes of Israel. Just as God had promised, despite all of the times the Israelites turned away from God or were led astray, all twelve tribes of Israel walked through the Jordan that day. I cannot help but think about the Israelites gazing upon those twelve stones and remembering God’s faithfulness to them, to His character, and to His word.
When thinking about the string of events that led the Israelites right to the banks of the Jordan River, standing within the promised land, I cannot help but think of the parallels that these events run to my own testimony. Just as the Israelites were able to see the twelve stones and remember their story, I look back and I am so thankful to see how all of the pieces of my story came together to bring me to Christ.
All of this was made possible, not by my hands, but because of what Christ has done. Sin created a separation between us and our Holy Father, a brokenness beyond what is possible for humans to fix. However, God said that sin would not have the last word. We were wandering aimlessly in the wilderness, stuck in the cycle of sin and death. God wanted more for His children, and God sent His son, Jesus Christ, to act as the dry ground of the Jordan River in order to bring those who put their hope and trust in Him across the depths and into the inheritance of eternity with our Father. God is a good and faithful Father, and He has made that so apparent when looking back at all of the pieces. All of the people, all of the circumstances, all of the peaks and valleys, continue to come together in a beautiful display of God’s faithfulness.
I challenge you, just as I challenge myself, to take a look. Just as the Israelites looked at those twelve stones on the banks of the Jordan, Take the time to look back and identify all of the "stones" in your story. Find joy in the pieces which have come together, and pray about the ones that haven't, about the pieces which seem like loose ends. Have the confidence that God not only answers prayer, but He finds great JOY in answering and responding to prayer. God doesn't leave loose ends, but He says the opposite through the words of Paul in Romans 8:28: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose". ALL things. Just as God remained faithful to His word and brought the Israelites to their inheritance, He remains faithful to His word today.
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Scripture References:
Exodus 3:7-8
The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey - a home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.
Joshua 1:2-3
“Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them - to the Israelites. I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses.”
Joshua 1:5-6
“No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.”
Joshua 4:2-3
“Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.”
Joshua 4:21-24
He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The Lord your God did to the Jordan what He had done to the Red Sea when He dried up before us until we had crossed over. He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.”
Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.
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