Walking in my Faith Zone
“Joshua was up early and on his way from Shittim with all the People of Israel with him. He arrived at the Jordan and camped before crossing over. After three days, leaders went through the camp and gave out orders to the people: “When you see the Covenant-Chest of God, your God, carried by the Levitical priests, start moving. Follow it. Make sure you keep a proper distance between you and it, about half a mile—be sure now to keep your distance!—and you’ll see clearly the route to take. You’ve never been on this road before.” ” (Joshua 3:1-4 MSG)
Are you in a situation that requires great faith to move forward? In the last few weeks, I have. I wrote a little about what I am doing to expand my faith in my last blog post Faith Zone. This morning when I read the scriptures above, I was encouraged.
In this passage of scripture, the Israelites were preparing to cross the Jordan River after forty years of wandering in the desert. Even though the desert had been difficult, they understood how to live and survive in it. They did not know what they would encounter on the other side of the Jordan River nor how they would respond to the challenges. However, the people were told to follow the Covenant-Chest of God. The Covenant-Chest of God or the ark of the covenant (Exodus 25) contained items that were symbolic of God’s promises to them and the miracles He had performed on their behalf: 1. Aaron’s rod (that had budded); 2. The stone tablets with the Ten Commandments carved on them; and 3. A pot of manna. They were being to told to move forward by following God’s promises.
In my own life, I can do the same as I walk in my Faith Zone. I have many instances in my life where God has helped me in truly miraculous ways and I am aware of His promises. But I don’t always keep these things in front of me. Too many times, I focus on perceived challenges and reasons why I think I am not ready to move forward.
I am going to challenge myself to walk forward by faith, looking to God’s promises, confident that He will continue to move in miraculous ways in my life!
Here is an excerpt of a poem by Rilke that brings to my mind walking by faith with God:
“God speaks to each of us as he
makes us,
then walk with us silently out of
the night.
These are the words we dimly
hear:
You, sent out beyond your recall,
go to the limits of your longing.
Embody me.
Flare up like flame
And make big shadows I can move
in.
Let everything happen to you,
beauty and terror.
Just keep going. No feeling is final.
Don’t let yourself lose me.
Nearby is the country they call life.
You will know it by its seriousness.
Give me your hand.”
~ Rilke’s Book of Hours, translated by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy
What People Are Saying
Thank you pastor Linda. We can all agree that we have some sort of pit in our lives that need a little more than our doing to fix. We need more faith and the word of God. The faith zone has definitely helped me as of late to dig deeper into faith and what he has placed before me. He will NOT forsake me. I’m so grateful. Amazing excerpt and photos. Look forward to next post. #iamthriving #faithzone
Asriele:
Thank you for your comments! #iamthriving #faithzone
L