Stones of Deliverance
Today I am struggling with mountains that God is allowing to remain immovable in my life and in the lives of some I love. I went to scripture because I needed a reminder that God has done epic things throughout history to save his people and lead them around mountains that are rooted in place. I found myself in Joshua chapter three where God has parted the Jordan River and allowed his people to cross over on dry ground. There is so much in that story that I see as I sit behind my boulder.
God’s directions required that the priests were to approach the edge of the water and put their feet in the river BEFORE the waters receded. That takes an enormous amount of faith. It’s one thing to walk between two walls of water on dry ground and another thing entirely to stick your toes in the water while the river is raging. Throughout my life, I have chosen many times to remain on the sidelines and watch as others have ventured out into the deep. I’ve listened to their tales of failure, which affirmed my decision to remain safely on the shore, but I have also been spell bound by their beautiful stories of the splendor of God’s provision and direction. At the end of the day, I am far more interested in the adventures ahead with God than the boredom of safety. With that thought, I have to confess that God is beginning to stir my soul with a mystery I do not yet understand and have yet to identify. Part of that terrifies me – the what if’s can be paralyzing if you focus on the call and not the Caller.
One of my favorite parts of the story from Joshua is the command God gave to gather rocks. “When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan from right where the priests stood and to carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.” As I sit here and ponder all this, I see that although the Jordan River was not made of granite, it was a mountain all the same. It was completely impassable to the sojourners without the action of God. The stones were collected to remind those who walked the dry riverbed and the generations to come, even me and you, that God made a valley between two walls of water and delivered his people. “Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil…” The mountains in front of us will eventually be brought low by the mighty hand of God. It may be in this life or when we cross to the sweet forever beyond this, but God will deliver each of us. What I love about this truth in Joshua is that God used a valley to deliver his people. The thing many of us fear, dread, and push against is the very path that led them to safety. Beloved of God, you are not alone as you navigate the crevices of your journey. I am learning the further I go through life that sometimes God moves my mountain and sometimes, God moves me.
Joshua does as the Lord directs and the men collect the stones and deposit them at their camp. He goes on to explain why they are making a “mountain” of rocks. “In the future, when your children ask you, “What do these stones mean?” tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord.” The Lord was instructing the Israelites to tell this story of victory for generations. So many times, we adults bend over backward to shield the eyes of the young from the hardness of life – and I agree, there are some things no one should see or experience, but are we shielding them from too much? I believe that God has called us to collect stones throughout our life as a testimony to his love and provision for us. They allow us and those who come after us to experience the hand of God at work as he carves out our valleys of deliverance. I am afraid the collective church has not been faithful to teach the generations that progress sometimes comes through pain. Jesus braced us for this reality in John chapter sixteen when he said, “I have told you these things so that in me you might have peace. In THIS world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” The mountains that have faced us are not meant to blow away like chaff under the feet of the thresher where they are remembered no more. They are meant to serve as stones from the dry riverbed of God’s deliverance that remind us of how far the hand of God has brought us.
Coming through these verses has left me with questions this morning. Are we trying so hard to get through the trials of life, to circumnavigate the mountains before us, that we have stopped collecting stones from our journey? Have we stopped remembering all the ways God has provided for us? Have we shared our experience with the generations to come? Have we stopped collecting stones because they serve as reminders of the struggle instead of the Savior? My encouragement for you (and me) today is to wipe the dust off your journal and begin gathering stones of grace.
