Joshua commands the priests to step into the Jordan River and then stand still. The people are going to see God’s salvation. We need to be still to see it.
When we’re running around like chickens with our heads cut off, we miss it. We miss out seeing God’s salvation. We need to be still and let Him show off.
The Lord is going to stop the river. The waters are going to pile up in a heap. He’s going to remind Israel of who He is and how they can trust Him to keep His word to drive out those in the land, that He will not fail.
Joshua again is showing he’s learned from Moses. God had told Moses he needed only to be still to see God’s salvation.
Moses didn’t have to fight Pharaoh’s army. He didn’t have to figure out a way across. He just had to wait. To trust. Trust that he didn’t have to play god and figure it out and make it happen.
When are we to be still? When are we to act?
We are always to be at rest. If our acting is motivated by our lack of rest and lack of trust in God to pull through with the win, then it’s NOT the time to act.
If our actions are motivated by knowing what God is calling us to do, then it’s the time to act. If we can do it from that place of resting trust, of peace in Christ, not in a false peace of justifying our actions, then we’re acting in His will.
It just takes a little honesty with ourselves to know the difference.
For instance, you can be a “prepper” because you are afraid and want to save yourself. Or, you can prepare because God has sent you in advance to be able to provide for others. The end result may look exactly the same on the outside, but only one will lead to lasting deliverance. God sees the heart.
The priests had to be still while all the Israelites were passing through. Their lives depended on the priests obeying the command to be still.
When the stakes get higher, it isn’t the time to rely on ourselves; it’s even more imperative we trust and wait, watch and obey, lean on the everlasting arms and not on our own understanding.
He will not fail. We have His Word that reveals to us who He is. He’s a God who does not fail.