Stepping Stones

God parted the Red sea to allow Moses to lead the Israelites to leave Egypt (Exodus 14). Later, Joshua was given the privilege to lead Israel into the promised land by parting the Jordan River.

When Joshua led the nation of Israel across the Jordan river it was harvest time (spring time) and the waters were at flood-level. When the priests touched their feet at the river's edge the water upstream piled up and the water downstream was cut off. By a miracle of God, when the priests walked into the river, they walked on dry ground and the nation of Israel crossed the Jordan.(Joshua 3: 8-17)

When everyone was safely across, God commanded that one person from each of the twelve tribes of Israel take a stone from the middle of the Jordan river and make a memorial from the stones. This was done to help remind the future generations of how God showed His great power to the Israelites. (Joshua 4: 1-8)

All of us have "stepping stones" in our lives that have allowed us to prepare for the next stage of our life. Think about all of the stages of life you went through in the first year of your life. You went from being a newborn, to sitting up, crawling, pulling up on things, and eventually to walking. Since then you went to kindergarten, learned to read, a few things in between, and now you are here today.

The "things in between" are the memorial stones that we have left behind to remind us of where we have come from. Many times we don't allow ourselves to leave these stones as rememberances, for many can be painful and difficult, but it should allow us to be reminded of God's faithfulness in our journey as we trusted in Him when we took our next step in life.

When you allow yourself to leave those stepping stones as the Israelites did, then you allow yourself a way to track the legacy that you leave behind. It also permits you to encourage others when they don't see the light at the end of the tunnel. If you are discouraged today by the promises you have yet to see pass, then I encourage you to look back at the "Jordan crossings" in your journey. Allow God to fill the places in your heart that seem void.