Stand Still.

"The LORD said to Joshua, 'This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so that they may know that I will be with you as I was with Moses. You are the one who shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, "When you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still int he Jordan."'"

(Joshua 3:7-8)

How do you replace a legend? With a little (okay, a LOT!) help from above! Moses has died and now Joshua is in charge. In addition to Moses giving his blessing, God is also giving Josh a little "street cred." One of Mo's big "God moments" was, of course, the crossing of the Red Sea (ala Charlton Heston fame). Now, in one of his first big leadership moments, God gives Joshua his own "mini-Red Sea moment."

As they get ready to cross into the Promised Land, the Israelites will have to cross the Jordan River. Granted, the Jordan isn't anywhere close in size to the Red Sea... but still, l to have the river stop flowing so they can cross over will still be impressive (not to mention it will signal to all that Joshua has God's blessing!).

The commands are clear: Those carrying the ark of the covenant (God's "throne" on earth) are to get to the river banks, then step into the waters and simply stand still. That's it. Then, and only then, will the waters stop flowing.

In some ways, it would be easier for the waters to stop flowing first, don't you think? Then the people would be encouraged to go across. But this way, before anything "divine" happens, they have to make the first move - to step into the water. Then comes the next part: stand still. Stop... wait... and allow God to make the next move. Too often we want to "help God along" and get whatever is supposed to come off and running.

Personally, we're in the process of buying a home in California. After searching for close to 5 months, we finally found "the one." However, we can't officially buy it until our house in Hawaii sells. We have 30 days to get into escrow for the sale of the CA house to kick in.

Up until now, I've been pretty calm. "God will sort it all out in the right timing," I've believed. And I still believe that. But... now that we're almost 2 weeks into our 30 days (with zero nibbles on the house in Hawaii), I'm starting to worry. I'd sure like to help move things along! But today's scripture calls me to STAND STILL. We've stepped into the waters... now we wait. And allow God to make a way across for us.

What do you need to stand still for?