Everyone knows the story of Moses parting the Red Sea and leading the Hebrews to safety, but how many know that there is another instance of God parting the waters to allow His chosen people to cross? It can be found in Joshua chapter 3.
Moses has died and Joshua is now in charge. All that stands between the Hebrews and the Promised Land is the Jordan River. To complicate things, the river is at flood stage. God instructs Joshua to choose 12 priests to carry the Ark of the Covenant across the river. God promises that when the soles of the priest's feet touch the water, they will part. Joshua follows God's instructions and they cross into the Promised Land on dry ground.
Great story right? Well let's look a little more closely at this story. The way you carried the Ark was this. You stuck two long poles through rings on the bottom of the Ark and carry it easily. (Remember the Ark was largely made of gold and gold is really heavy.) To accommodate six men, each pole needs to be pretty long. I am guessing around twelve feet.
Now that you have a picture of how the Ark is carried, let's return to the story. These twelve men approach the raging Jordan River, remember it is at flood stage. They now obediently begin wading into the river. Now God promised that when the soles of their feet touched the water, the river would stop. Based on the way God worked in other situations, I think that means that all 24 feet had to be in the river. That means the guys in front have to wade 12 feet out into a raging river. If you are the last guy in line your feet will barely get wet, but what about the ones in front?
A lot of times you will find yourself the guy in front. You are following God's leading, but you find yourself chest deep in a raging river. You have faith that God will part the waters,but that doesn't make taking those first steps any easier. When God calls you to do something, He is calling you to go as far as you can, not just stick your toes in.
