Joshua: Soldier's Manual Lesson 5

                            A deep dependency upon God

In my last two teachings we have been answering the question, "By what means did Joshua drive out the Canaanites to complete his mission?" The answer: spiritual weapons. So far we talked about strength and courage. Today I want to talk about "a dependent spirit." 

Joshua 3:1, 2, 15 And Joshua rose early in the morning and led the people to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before the Passover. And it came to pass after three days...And as they that carried the ark were come to Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bared the ark were dipped in the brim of the water (for Jordan overflows its banks all the time of harvest).

So after 40 years of wandering around in the wilderness, the Lord says it is finally time for the Israelites to leave the wilderness, cross the Jordan River and take possession Canaan-land, the land of milk and honey. So beginning their military campaign the Lord leads them to the banks of the Jordan and then has them camp there for three days. 

The question becomes "Why?" Why did the Lord do that? Why did He start their invasion by leading them to the Jordan river and then hunkering them down on its banks for three days?

The answer is in verse 15: for Jordan overflows its banks all the time of harvest. 

Verse 15 tells us that it was flood season. At the time of harvest the waters of the Jordan always overflown its banks. So there was absolutely no way they could pass through the violent flow of the Jordan waters. If they tried, many of them would be swept away by the raging current and drowned. 

So for three days with nothing to do but stare at these violent waters, what was happening?  

The army of Israel was realizing more and more they had no strength in themselves to cross this river. 

The more they stared at this furious river, the more they felt how powerless they were to cross it. 

In other words, God encamped them at the Jordan to bring a despair over their own strength.

This is where learning to walk in God's strength always begins; it begins with God bringing a despair over our human strength. It is then we turn from our powerless strength and begin looking to Him for His divine strength. Often God must allow something so much bigger than our human strength to invade our lives to bring an absolute despair over our strength. Sometimes God must allow terrible opposition and obstacles to assault our lives so we can truly realize just how feeble and helpless our own strength really is. 

 

Can I simply tell you that even as Christians it is so ingrained in us to trust in our own strength. 

Every Christian begins their walk with God leaning upon their own strength in some measure. 

We say things like, "I know I can't do it without the Lord." "It was all of God and none of me."

When we say these kind of things, we are sincere when we say them, but even then we just do not realize how much we are leaning upon our own strength, even boasting in our own strength. 

So the Lord must bring a stripping process into our lives where we move from human strength to divine strength. He must allow impossible battles and trials into our lives that bring such a despair over our own strength because we realize just how insufficient it is for what I am facing. 

I know this can sound frightening, the thought of facing impossible battles in your own human strength. The thought of spiraling deeper and deeper into helplessness because we can't fix the problem. It can really sound scary. But even then we must remember God is in control. He is the one allowing our human strength to fail. He is the one allowing all our human efforts to come to nothing. 

However, here is the hope! 

Joshua 3:2, 3 And it came to pass after three days, that the officers went through the hosts and commanded the  people, "When we cross the Jordan, keep your eyes on the ark of the Lord your God, and the priests and the Levites bearing it, then you shall leave your place, and go after it. 

So after three days of staring at this furious river and feeling their absolute powerlessness in crossing these waters, Joshua then commands the people, As we now begin to cross the river, keep your eyes fixed on the ark! Friends, we all know what this ark represents: the presence of God in the midst of His people. 

So the Lord is now telling His people, It is now time to take your eyes off of the Jordan and fasten them on me. The battles you are going to win has nothing to do with your strength; it has everything to do with who you are looking at. If you will keep your eyes fixed on the Lord, you will pass through every impossibility and win every battle that is before you. 

I am truly convinced before every follower of Christ can fully look to the Lord, we must have our own Jordan River experience. We will never fully fix our eyes on the Lord until we have felt the terrible weight of just how insufficient our own human resources truly are.  

Always remember, the deeper your dependence upon God, the deeper your strength in God. 

Praise the Lord.