Waters Never Part Until Our Feet Get Wet

When I was a teenager back in the day, I listened to a variety of music. One of my favorites to listen to was a Christian/Rock group called Petra. I would describe them as a Christian version of a big hair rock band. One of my favorite songs they sang was titled ‘Beyond Belief’. The basic idea behind the lyrics of the song is how we, as people, often miss out on the blessings of God because we are too afraid to move and do what He asks of us. We get comfortable where we are in life and want to stay there. Peter was of the same mindset. While he was with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter told Jesus that they should build themselves houses and stay on the mountain because it was such a great experience. Jesus of course disagreed knowing that He had bigger and better things to accomplish on earth.
In the song, there’s a line that has always caught my attention. It says, “waters never part until our feet get wet”. For the longest, I didn’t understand the background for these lyrics. Other lines in the song say, “there’s a higher place to go, beyond belief”. I thought the song was simply referring to us eventually going to Heaven when we die as Christians. I was wrong. The song has nothing to do with dying or even Heaven. The whole song is referring to our life on earth and allowing God to use it to the fullest to further His kingdom.
In Joshua chapter 3, we find Joshua is the new leader of the Israelites. Moses has died just before the Jews were to enter into the Promised Land. Moses was not allowed to carry the people into the Promised Land because of disobeying God while wandering through the wilderness. The Israelites have fulfilled their required time in the wilderness and are ready to take the land God promised them. They arrive at the Jordan River and camp on the opposite side of the Promised Land. It is there that God gives Joshua instructions on how He is going to lead them across the Jordan River. God tells the priests to carry the ark to the brink of the river and then walk to the middle of the river and stand. He told Joshua that when the soles of their feet hit the water, then the waters of Jordan would stop and be heaped up. The people then were to walk across the river bed on dry ground as the ark is held in the middle of the river.
Let me take a moment to point out a couple of things. This was no small request that God was making of the people. The ark of the covenant was the most prized possession of the children of Israel. They were instructed by God that no man was to ever physically touch the ark. They had to carry the ark on poles that were slid through rings on the sides of the ark. Also, the time of year that Israel arrived at the Jordan River was in its flood season. The river was overflowing its banks. So, God told Joshua to have the people of Israel to carry their most prized possession into the middle of rushing flooding river and trust that God would take care of things.
Can you imagine being one of those priests? You are carrying a pole on your shoulder that is supporting the one object on earth that signifies the actual presence of God. No pressure. There had to be butterflies all in their stomachs. They had to be thinking there is no way this is going to work. What if I slip? What if the water knocks me down? What if I drop the ark? Does God realize what He is asking us? I cannot imagine the feelings they were having as they walked to the edge of the river. Did they back down? Nope. Did they refuse to cross? Nope. God said move and they moved. I feel sure the banks of the Jordan River started looking pretty good. This is good enough. I can see the Promised Land from here. No need to go further.
We often want to stop before carrying through with what God asks of us. We don’t have the faith to believe that He will fulfill His part of the deal. We let doubt paralyze us. How many blessings do we miss out on because we refuse to follow God’s lead. Israel would have missed out on an eternal inheritance if they had not been willing to set their feet in the water. A lot of times we also want to see God move before we move. That’s the safer way to go isn’t it? Hesitate and let God initiate things first. Then if we like what we see, we will follow. If we don’t like what we see, nothing lost. That’s not faith. That’s called hedging your bets. No risk. Notice the waters did not stop in the Jordan until the priests’ feet hit the water. They had to move first. They had to take that step of faith. If we would live daily with that type of faith, we would experience a life that is “Beyond Belief”.