Standing in Remembrance & Confidence
November 7, 2023
I took the picture above at such a dark, lonely, scary, hopeless, and lifeless point in my life. A time where I was questioning God’s goodness and His love for me. You can see the hospital bracelet around my wrist. I was holding Hudson’s little paw, but I didn’t feel like there was anything to hold on to and I wanted to just let go.
One thing I still have to intentionally work on when circumstances are heavy and painful is continuing to keep confidence in the goodness, kindness, and love of God. My flesh wants to associate heartbreak and difficult seasons of life with His absence.
“Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with My righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).
“... so My word that comes from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please and will prosper in what I send it to do” (Isaiah 55:11).
I know my Savior is a Promise Keeper. I know His word does not return to Him void and unfulfilled. So when He tells me that He is with me, I can be sure that I will never be alone. And no matter the season of life, He is never absent. His presence does not change, even when our perception of it does.
In our brokenness and pain, sometimes we want to blame God. We want to question His goodness and His love for us. But how often do we first check our own heart posture and actions when things go awry?
In the book of Joshua, God leads the Israelites across the Jordan river and into the promised land. Their years and years of wandering in the wilderness had finally come to an end. Before we dive deeper into God’s Word, check out this scripture and how intentional the Lord was in every detail of guiding His people into what He promised them.
“Now the Jordan overflows its banks throughout the harvest season. But as soon as the priests carrying the ark reached the Jordan, their feet touched the water at its edge and the water flowing downstream stood still, rising up in a mass that extended as far as Adam, a city next to Zarethan. The water flowing downstream into the Sea of the Arabah was completely cut off, and the people crossed opposite Jericho. The priests carrying the ark of the Lord’s covenant stood firmly on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel crossed on dry ground until the entire nation had finished crossing the Jordan” (Joshua 3:15-17).
Did you catch that these verses say “dry ground” more than once? When God takes care of His people, takes care of us, He does it fully. He not only split the waters, but dried the ground beneath their feet as a reminder that He cares about even the most minute details of our lives. What a love that is!
“‘Go across to the ark of the Lord your God in the middle of the Jordan. Each of you lift a stone onto his shoulder, one for each of the Israelite tribes, so that this will be a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ you should tell them, ‘The water of the Jordan was cut off in front of the ark of the Lord’s covenant. When it crossed the Jordan, the Jordan’s water was cut off.’ Therefore these stones will always be a memorial for the Israelites. … ‘This is so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord’s hand is mighty, and so that you may always fear the Lord your God’” (Joshua 4:5-7, 24).
God told Joshua to choose twelve men, one for each tribe of Israel, to get a stone from the middle of the Jordan river as a memorial of the Lord’s mighty hand. God had split the waters, just like He did the Red Sea, as another miraculous act of love for His people, despite all the times they turned from Him in the wilderness. The Israelites were finally in the promised land.
“Now Jericho was strongly fortified because of the Israelites -- no one leaving or entering. The Lord said to Joshua, ‘Look, I have handed Jericho, its king, and its best soldiers over to you. March around the city with all the men of war, circling the city one time. Do this for six days. Have seven priests carry seven ram’s-horn trumpets in front of the ark. But on the seventh day, march around the city seven times, while the priests blow the trumpets. When there is a prolonged blast of the horn and you hear its sound, have all the troops give a mighty shout. Then the city wall will collapse, and the troops will advance, each man straight ahead.’ … So the troops shouted, and the trumpet sounded. When they heard the blast of the trumpet, the troops gave a great shout, and the wall collapsed” (Joshua 6:1-5, 20).
Every time I read this account of the Jericho walls coming down, I’m so in awe of the Lord’s sovereignty and faithfulness. I think I would have been so doubtful that my marching around the city while the blows of trumpets sounded would have conquered Jericho. Yet in our obedience to God’s call, no matter what He’s bringing us to do or how foolish it looks to the world, His plans will be completed because He is a good God who stays true to His word.
“The Israelites, however, were unfaithful regarding the things set apart for destruction. Achan son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of what was set apart, and the Lord’s anger burned against the Israelites” (Joshua 7:1).
God had commanded that everything in Jericho be destroyed and that the silver, gold, bronze, and iron would be put into the treasury of the Lord’s house. Instead of praising God for conquering Jericho, the Israelites took the victory as their own accomplishment, bringing themselves away from God in their arrogance. The Israelites then chose to take the people of Ai into battle, despite not having received instruction from the Lord to do so. The battle ended in defeat for the Israelites, causing them to lose heart. Take a look at how Joshua reacted.
“Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell facedown to the ground before the ark of the Lord until evening, as did the elders of Israel; they all put dust on their heads. ‘Oh, Lord God,’ Joshua said, ‘why did You ever bring these people across the Jordan to hand us over to the Amorites for our destruction?’” (Joshua 7:6-7).
Israel had already forgotten the Lord’s kindness and faithfulness to bring them across the Jordan river on dry ground. God’s covenant with the Israelites was to bring them to the promised land, not to hand them over to the Amorites to be destroyed. How often do we forget what God has already told us and done for us when life gets messy?
“The Lord then said to Joshua, ‘Stand up! Why have you fallen facedown? Israel has sinned. They have violated My covenant that I appointed for them. They have taken some of what was set apart. They have stolen, deceived, and put those things with their own belongings. This is why the Israelites can not stand against their enemies… I will no longer be with you unless you remove from among you what is set apart’” (Joshua 7:10-12).
Our sin and pursuit of our fleshly desires isn’t always why our circumstances go awry. God didn’t promise us an easy life on earth and sometimes we will walk through valleys because we live in a broken world. But regardless of if our difficult circumstances or seasons of pain are due to our sin or the result of a fallen world, we are told to stand up. When we remember what the Lord has promised us and done for us, we won’t fall face down in the midst of hardship.
Are you face down on the ground right now? Stand up! Focus on what God has promised you. Dive into His Word and let His truth set you free. Reflect on what He has done in your life. He has not brought you this far only to bring you back. Now that is a reason to praise!
Questions for further reflection:
What are some of God’s promises that are found in His Word? Write them down!
Where does life feel scary or chaotic or full of defeat right now? Is that leading me to pursue my flesh or pursue Christ? How can I pursue Christ and stand on His truth?
What was / is my “Jordan river”? What has God so kindly and intentionally brought me through? How can I remember this and focus on this as I put my confidence in His goodness to not let me go back to the pain and darkness?
What was / is my “dry ground”? How has God shown me that He cares for me in the most minute details of my life?
What was / is my “conquest of Jericho”? Where and how did I trust God even when it felt like it wouldn’t work?
Am I walking in sin right now? How is it resulting in my defeat? How can I turn back to living in obedience?
How am I reacting to hardship? Am I standing in and operating from a place of victory that Jesus has given me, even when it feels hard and exhausting?
To my First Love,
I don’t want to ever forget where You have brought me from and what You have done for me. I know Your goodness doesn’t end here. I know Your love for me doesn’t ever cease. I know You haven’t brought me this far just to bring me back. Show me where I need to stand up and trust Your promises to me. Thank You for bringing me across my Jordan river on dry ground. I pray that Your kindness in every detail would never go unnoticed.
Amen