Joshua 3 You have not passed this way before
- Read Joshua 3:1-17
Can you imagine? Can you imagine the Lord leading you into a river and having the water of the river, in flood season, stack up beside you so that you could walk through on dry ground?
Can you imagine having the Lord miraculously preparing your way?
In verse 4 we read:
- Joshua 3:4 However, there shall be a distance between you and it of about two thousand cubits by measurement. Do not come near it, so that you may know the way by which you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.”
You have not passed this way before. There are many places we have not been before. And in many of those places we do not know where to go, how to respond, or what to do. Because we have not been that way before.
You’re going to a new school. - You’ve not been this way before
You’re starting a new career. - You’ve not been this way before
You’re getting married. - You’ve not been this way before
You’re buying a house. - You’ve not been this way before
You’re moving.- You’ve not been this way before
You’re retiring. - You’ve not been this way before
You’re getting older and having more physical problems.- You’ve not been this way before
You’ve not been this way before. You’ve not experienced this before.
And in verse 5 we read, :
- Joshua 3:5 Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do miracles among you.”
Then in verse 5 we read, “for tomorrow the Lord will do miracles among you.”
I don’t know about you, but I want the Lord to do miracles among me, especially when I’m heading into an area I’ve not been in before. Especially when I have no idea what I’m doing or where I’m going.
The other morning, Drew was sitting across from me at their table in Colorado working, when I started working on this message. All of a sudden I started crying, and he asked, “Daddy what’s wrong? Why are you crying?” Honestly, I had started working on this message and then I started thinking about Amy Grant’s song, “Angels watching over me,” and when I went to watch the video I was overwhelmed at the thought of God watching over us, and protecting us, and directing us. Can you imagine? The God of the universe, the Creator of all things caring enough about us that He wants to do miracles in our lives?
It’s easy, in this world, in the swarm of people around us, in neighborhoods and communities where folks seem to ignore us, or overlook us, or places where we seem to have little or no impact, to begin to think that no one sees us or no one cares. But my friend, the Bible says in Matthew chapter 10:
> Matthew 10:29-31 Aren’t two sparrows sold for a penny?Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s consent. But even the hairs of your head have all been counted. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
You are known by, and are important to God.
So in verse 4 of this passage we read, “consecrate yourselves because you’re not passed this way before.” In verse 5, “for tomorrow the Lord will do miracles among you.”
How do we move from, “You’ve not gone this way before, to “The Lord will do miracles among you.”
I believe there are several steps we need to follow to have the Lord doing miracles in our midst.
1. Talk to the Lord about it. - Pray
All through this process, Joshua and the Lord have been talking. How did Joshua know the Lord was going to be doing miracles in their midst the next day? He knew it because He and the Lord had been talking about it.
It amazes me the number of people who want the Lord to work miracles in their lives, who never talk to the Lord about it.
> Matthew 7:7-11 “Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door[a] will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Who among you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him.”
What did Jesus say? He said, “Your Father in heaven wants to give good gifts to His children.” If you are a child of His then ask. Pray about it.
When Jesus taught us what we call the Lord’s prayer, how did He tell us to address God? He said, “Our Father.”
In Romans 8 we are told by Paul:
> Romans 8:15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. Instead, you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!”
What good dad, doesn’t want to do things for and give things to his children. The Bible says, when you become a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, you are adopted into the family of God. The Lord becomes your father, and He delights in giving good gifts to His children.
So, how do we find miracles when we’ve not been this way before? You talk to God about it. You pray.
Second, look what Joshua told the people to do in verse 5.
- Read Joshua 3:5
Joshua told the people to consecrate themselves.
The word translate here as consecrate is the Hebrew word
qâdash
kaw-dash'
Landon, I didn’t say crawdad. I said, kaw-dash.
It means to consecrate, sanctify, prepare, dedicate, be hallowed, be holy, be sanctified, be separate
In other words, prepare yourselves. Make yourself clean. That can only be done through a relationship with Jesus Christ. We address the sins in our lives. We confess them.
> Isaiah 59:1-2 Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you so that he will not hear.
What is Isaiah saying? He’s saying, “God’s arm is not so short that He can’t reach you. He’s not so weak that He can’t perform a miracle in your life. It’s the sin in your life that’s keeping Him from working miracles in your life. Deal with the sin, then step back and watch Him work.
So many times we sabotage ourselves because we are only lukewarm-half-hearted Christians, kinda following God, but not whole-heartedly. We want God but, we want Him on our terms. That’s not the way it works.
What did the Lord say?
> Jeremiah 29:13 You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.
We deal with the sin in our lives and make Him a priority in our lives. We don’t say, “I want a promotion and a side order of God.”
No, we make following Him the priority and then let the chips fall where they will.
3. We make sure we have no will in the matter.
Up to this point, God has been leading the Israelites with a pillar of cloud during the day, and a pillar of fire at night.
At the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed, “Not my will, but Your’s be done.”
We have to reach a point where we have no will in the matter.
Henry Blackaby, in his study, “Experiencing God: Knowing and doing the will of God” says, “When you are seeking to know God’s will, you have to reach a point where you have no will in the matter. If you want to know God’s will, you need to reach a point where you can say, “Lord, however you want to work in this situation is fine with me. If you want me to have that promotion, fine. If You don’t, that’s fine as well. I trust you in this situation.”
Wednesday night I watched the movie Dune on the plane on the way home. I’ve never watched it before. In the movie one of the bad guys asked, “When is a gift not a gift?”
If you’ve watched the movie, you know the emperor sent a whole nation to a planet, supposedly giving them the opportunity to become very wealthy, when in fact he was setting them up for failure. He was setting them up for destruction.
We don’t know what each situation will bring us. We don’t know how things are going to work out in a situation. We think we do, but we don’t.
In each situation we have to reach a point where we can trust the Lord.
** Mrs. Billy Graham once said, “If God had answered all of her prayers, she would have married the wrong man, . . . several times.” We have to reach a point where we trust the Lord in a situation.
Lord, I think this promotion would be great, but this may not be the time. This may not be the company. I trust you.
4. Delight yourself in the Lord
> Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the Lord,? and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Many people like to quote the last part, but they miss the first part.
What does it mean to delight yourself? It means to spend time with Him, in prayer, Bible study, meditation, praise and worship. As we Delight ourselves in the Lord, our minds and thinking becomes more and more like the Lord’s, so it becomes easier to want the same things He does.
A couple of days ago I was visiting with Bonnie’s dad, her sister and brother-in-law. They told me about visiting near Zion National Park, and they spoke to a realtor there and asked her what land was going for there. She told them that she had just sold a postage stamp sized lot with a camper on it for $800,000. Somebody wanted a place to stay when they came to the place to visit.
The realtor told her that the people who worked in the area couldn’t afford to live in the area. Then Bonnie’s sister asked me, “Do you think they are any happier than we are?” I told her, “No. I’m happily married to my best friend. Serving the Lord, and watching Him work. It doesn’t get any better than that.”
Delighting yourself in the Lord, affects your mind, your way of thinking, and helps you keep things in perspective.
5. Give God the Credit
Look again at verse 5
- Read Joshua 3:5
What did Joshua say? You’re gonna see the Lord do miracles among you.
He didn’t try to claim credit for what was about to happen. He didn’t blow his own horn and say, “Look what I caused to happen.” He said, “Step back and watch the Lord work.
> Proverbs 3:6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
The Lord promises to direct our paths, but it is conditional. It is conditioned on us pointing to Him.
6. Watch the Lord work miracles
Some of ya’ll know my niece Milinda. I would to share with you, a testimony of her’s, in her own words.
So, my mom and I took a trip to Seattle to meet with my potential employers and see the area that neither of us had ever visited. I took a scary leap of faith and somehow agreed to the job and move to Washington in one fell swoop after having peace during conversations with managers and tours of the location.
Immediately after agreeing to the job out here, my mom and I realized that the next step would be housing. Also on our minds were the churches in the area, thinking that these could be potential communities for me to serve and grow in. As we continued to pass by a specific church in town, Lifepointe Community Church, I felt a draw in my spirit to it. When we stopped by and determined no one was in the building, I called and left a message for the pastor. Not long after that, we were on an hour and half long phone call with Pastor Curtis of Lifepointe as he shared the story of his church and his role in that church and I shared my story of eerie peace about this move. My heart felt at peace with everything he said and described. By the end of the call, my mom mentioned to Pastor Curtis that I was in need of a place to live and if he knew anyone in need of a tenant, it would be very helpful. He said he would spread the word and help in any way he could.
My mom and I continued to drive around Snoqualmie and the surrounding cities looking at available rooms and apartments to rent and exploring this soon-to-be new home of mine. We found ourselves on Snoqualmie Ridge and being self-aware that she has a penchant to worry about me, my mom decided to pray a big prayer that went something like this: "God, I thank you for this opportunity you have provided for Milinda to move to this beautiful place and be a light here. Right now we have a need to find her a place to live. I pray that you provide a woman who has a room to rent. I pray that this woman is a Christian and loves you. I pray that she has a welcoming home for Milinda to stay in and, God, wouldn't it be nice if it were in this neighborhood here? Amen."
The next day we receive an email from a woman named Jennifer who had a room to rent and heard about me through Pastor Curtis. We went to go visit her and see her beautiful home that evening. She was a kind, Christian lady who told us of how a girl would be moving out of her room a few days before I would be needing it and I was welcome to come rent it. We immediately knew she was an answered prayer. And, as we walked back to our car from Jennifer's home, we realized we were in the same neighborhood on Snoqualmie Ridge where my mom prayed her big prayer.
I now live and work in Snoqualmie and attend Lifepointe Community Church. I have seen countless connections and timings with people and living situations that continue to affirm that God has me here intentionally. He would be a good God and worthy of my praise regardless, but I am grateful that He is faithful in all circumstances, including this one.
So, when we were visiting, another couple reached out after having heard from Pastor Curtis. They said they were finishing constructing a mother-in-law suite attached to their home but had not yet decided what they were going to do with it. My mom and I met them and saw the work-in-progress. Such a sweet family who attended Lifepointe, I was just glad to have made another contact, regardless of what would happen with their beautiful MIL suite. A few days later, they emailed me back, saying they had prayed about it and wanted to offer me the opportunity to rent it, but it wouldn't be done until after 2 months after I moved to Snoqualmie. It just so happened that Ms.
Jennifer, who I had agreed to rent a room from, needed me out after 2 months for another girl to move in through a previous agreement. I now live in that mother-in-law suite and just renewed my lease for another 6 months with this amazing family that I go to church with and respect tremendously. They are grateful to me for renting, as well, recognizing that they could be renting to some or many strangers had they gone with some of their original plans. Who knows if these people would respect them and their family, let alone have a personal relationship with Jesus.
I'd like to say it was coincidence, but it's so clear to me that this was God's providence.
Every week, as we close Mission Possible Camp at the end of the evening, I will close by shouting, “If you do your best.” And the Kids answer by shouting back, “God will do the rest.”
If you do your best, God will do the rest.
My friends, That is what Joshua is saying here. You’ve never been this way before, but if you do your best, if you do what the Lord has already told you to do, then step back and let the Lord do the rest.
Lets’ try that together. If you do your best . . . . God will do the rest.
