Faith Before Fruits

I was reading over the story of Joshua, when the unbelievable happened and all of the Israelites were able to cross the Jordan River on completely dry ground. It goes like this:

Joshua readies his people by telling them that tomorrow, the Lord will do wonders among them. 

So the Lord speaks to Joshua and says He will begin to magnify him before all of the people so that they will know that just like He was with Moses, He is also with Joshua. 

God then gives Joshua very clear and simple directions on what Joshua and the priests and his people are to do in order to cross the Jordan River. 

Now mind you, this is a 156 mile long and also deep river that all of these people must cross, with the heavy ark of the covenant of the Lord over the priests' shoulders... oh and at this time of year at harvest it overflows all the banks. {Joshua 3:15}

Want to know what the directions were?

//... When ye are come to the brink of the water of Jordan, ye shall stand still in Jordan. // {Joshua 3:8}

They are told to stand still in the water. That's it. 

I'm sorry... what?!

Let's take a look at what happens next:

// And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon a heap. // {Joshua 3:12}

As soon as the priests feet touched the water, the water rose up high above the ground and stacked up. And the people were able to cross the Jordan over dry ground.  

Notice God didn't tell them the water would separate before they stepped into it, no He said the INSTANCE their feet touched the tip of the water... is when it would happen. 

This gave me a thought.

That before God gives us the promise and success, we need to have faith first. 

God told them exactly what was going to happen, only thing is? In order for it to work... they had to step into the water. 

They had to have faith that God would do what He promised He would, BEFORE they saw it being done. 

Now that's hard. 

I struggle with doubting whether I should or shouldn't do something. What if it doesn't work out and what if nobody listens? What if it doesn't work? How about if I make the wrong decision and ruin my life forever?

It's as if I need proof that something is worth it. But that's not how God works. 

I'm stung when I think how Jesus willingly chose to die on the cross for everyone, knowing some would never repent and accept His gift of salvation. 

Be He did it anyway... because He loves us.

So here's the thing. God knows what's going to happen and He knows it'll be good for us once we do it. 

But in order to get to the other side of the river into the promise... you need to step foot in the water and just stay still. 

God's instructions are never difficult, but they do take trust. 

Notice He didn't say plunge into the water. God said the second their bare feet touched the tip of the water. The tip! And then God did His work. 

The hardest part was showing up and actually taking that little step into the water. God did the rest. 

So my question is... what is it that God is calling YOU to step out into faith for?

Your river is waiting to be parted. 

God gave you the promise... now all you need to do is step into the water.