You Have Not Passed This Way Before

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.