Crossing Your Jordan: Three Keys for Your Step of Faith

Introduction

What is your Jordan today? That immense obstacle still separating you from God's promise for your life. The door you dare not push open, the step you dare not take, because the river before you is overflowing and nothing, humanly speaking, tells you it will open up. After forty years in the desert, the people of Israel find themselves in exactly this situation, at the edge of the Jordan, mere meters from the Promised Land. Joshua chapter 3 tells how they crossed it, and above all how God asked them to prepare for it. This passage gives you three very concrete keys for facing your own: taking time to stop, preparing yourself spiritually to see God act, and taking that step of faith God is waiting for you to take.

Message Outline

1. Take time to stop before entering the promise

Joshua 3:2 states that "after three days the officers went through the camp." Three days of waiting between arriving at the edge of the Jordan and the official start of preparations. After 40 years in the desert, one might think they would rush ahead, and yet God imposes a pause.
Like a mountain climber acclimating at base camp before ascending Everest, Israel needed to settle physically, mentally, and above all spiritually. Without this acclimation period, the experience could have turned to tragedy.
This people had just come through a very trying period: 40 years in the desert, the loss of an entire generation, rebellions, punishments, and finally the death of their leader Moses. They needed to relearn how to walk in obedience, trust, and dependence on God.
The crossing of the Jordan was not to happen on their own timetable, but on God's timetable. It was not for God to adapt to their moods, but for Israel to submit to His will.
There are moments in your life when you're convinced you're in God's will, but where rushing ahead puts you in very delicate situations because you didn't stop before setting out. If you dive into a complex recipe without taking time to choose your ingredients, you'll end up ordering a pizza.
Taking time to stop before starting something new is essential. These are the moments when you can reflect, evaluate your motivations, and realign yourself with God's will. This will make you resilient in effort and disciplined over the long haul.

2. Prepare yourself spiritually to see God act

In Joshua 3:5, Joshua declares: "Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you." The Hebrew word used, qadash, means to consecrate, sanctify, prepare, be holy, be set apart.
This purification rite made visible and communal a decision already made inwardly: to consecrate oneself to God, to follow His will, to obey Him. It was not a magic ritual to force God's hand, but a time of teaching and preparation.
Today, you no longer need these rites: Christ died on the cross for the forgiveness of all your sins, past and future. It is not what you do that purifies you, it is what Jesus accomplished on the cross. The rites are fully fulfilled in Him.
This does not mean you no longer need to repent or walk in sanctification. But your spiritual preparation now happens through prayer, meditating on the Word, and knowing God.
Hudson Taylor, a 19th-century English missionary to China, adopted a radical principle: never ask people for money, but bring every need to God in prayer. In critical financial situations, he would get down on his knees and pray. God provided in time, often the exact amount, through people who knew nothing of the situation.
On another occasion, his boat was swept toward rapids in China. While the crew panicked, Hudson Taylor began to pray calmly. The wind changed, the boat was freed, everyone was saved. The crew could only acknowledge that God had intervened.
How can you recognize God's action if you don't even take the time to know Him? Praying and meditating on the Word is not optional: it's what enables you to discern how God works, and to keep from turning away from Him because of your human considerations, your pride, or your misdirected desires.

3. Dare to take the step of faith God is asking of you

In Joshua 3:13, God announces: "And as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the LORD... shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off." Unlike the Red Sea, where the water opened up beforehand, here the priests must first step into the water.
Verse 15 notes that it was harvest time, when the Jordan overflows all its banks. If there was ever a worst possible moment to attempt the crossing, this was it. Yet this is the moment God chose.
Brother Andrew, the Dutch missionary who founded Open Doors, would load his car trunk with Bibles to smuggle across the Iron Curtain, in the middle of the Cold War. At one border checkpoint, soldiers opened his trunk and saw nothing, even though the Bibles were not hidden. His only security was his trust in God. He earned the nickname "God's Smuggler."
Biblical faith is not blind faith. Dr. Pablo Martinez, a Christian psychiatrist, reminds us that your trust in God rests on three foundations: what God has done (His past faithfulness, as in Joshua 3:7), what He will do in the future (His promises, verse 5), and who He is (His power, verses 15-16).
One last striking detail: it is not Joshua or the leaders who step into the water first, but the priests. The step of faith cannot be delegated to a leader, however great. God asks you, individually, to put your foot into your own Jordan.
Three questions to ask yourself: What is your Jordan today, the obstacle you can only cross by moving forward in faith? What makes you hesitate at the river's edge, fear, doubt, the past? In what area are you waiting for everything to be secured, when deep down you know God is asking you to move forward now?

Key Takeaways

Before entering the promise, God asks you to stop. Three days of silence can be more decisive than ten years of frantic activity.
Rushing ahead takes you out of God's will. Inner preparation is what enables you to endure over time when trials come.
You no longer need rites: the cross of Christ purifies you once for all. But you still need to pray and meditate on His Word to recognize His action.
The step of faith always comes before the miracle, not after. The priests had to put their feet in the water before the river parted.
Your faith is not blind: it rests on what God has done, what He has promised, and who He is. Three solid reasons to dare.
No one can take your step of faith for you, not even the best leader. God calls you personally to cross your Jordan.

Personal Application

Are you the type who charges ahead without preparing, or do you really take time to stop before every major decision? What current situation calls for you to take a "three-day" pause this week?
When you look at your life of prayer and meditation on the Word, are you preparing yourself to see God act, or are you missing it without realizing it?
What is your Jordan today: a relationship to restore, a commitment to make, a ministry to begin, forgiveness to grant, a conversion to confess publicly?
What exactly is holding you back at the river's edge: fear of failure, the weight of the past, doubt about God's promises, waiting for everything to be secure before moving forward?
Which leader (pastor, mentor, Christian spouse) are you tempted to delegate your own step of faith to? What would happen if you put your own foot in the water this week?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does God wait three days before having Israel cross the Jordan?

The text does not say explicitly, but two reasons naturally emerge. On one hand, the people needed to recover physically after a long journey. On the other, and above all, they needed a time of inner preparation to realign with God's will after forty years of wandering, the death of Moses, and numerous rebellions. The message is clear: God is not in a rush, and He doesn't want you to be either. The pause is part of the journey.

Do I still need rites of purification today?

No. The cross of Christ accomplished once for all what these rites foreshadowed. As Romans 6:23 reminds us, "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." It is not what you do that purifies you, but what Jesus did for you. This doesn't remove your need to repent or pursue sanctification, but you no longer depend on a ritual to be ready to see God act.

How can I recognize my own personal Jordan today?

Your Jordan is the obstacle you cannot cross without a concrete step of faith: a relationship to restore, a ministry to start, forgiveness to grant, a sin to confess, a conversion to make public, a project God has been asking of you for a long time. Often, you already know what it is: it's the thing you keep putting off, telling yourself it isn't the right time. The right time, as with Israel in the middle of a flood, is the time God chooses.

What should I do if I'm afraid to take this step of faith?

Fear at the edge of the Jordan is normal: the priests themselves had to put their feet in a flooding river before anything happened. Your faith doesn't need to be blind: build it on three solid things. What God has already done in your life (remember His faithfulness), what He has promised in His Word (reread His promises), and who He is (His power, His goodness, His presence). Then move forward, one step at a time.

Am I still in Egypt, in the desert, or already in the Promised Land?

Some are still in Egypt, enslaved to sin and weary: the cross of Christ sets you free today if you receive it. Others have come out of Egypt, saved by grace, but remain stuck in the desert, hesitant, still holding on to something. Crossing the Jordan is not about becoming perfect or earning something more: it's about agreeing to trust God even when it costs you, leaving a survival faith to enter a conquest faith, and letting the Spirit shape you to look more like Jesus every day.

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