Putting Your Foot in the Water

We recently purchased a new car with a navigation system. All I have to do is talk to it, giving it my destination, and as I begin to drive I am directed turn-by-turn. Navigation systems sure make it easy to know where you’re going, and even how long it will take you to get there! But if I give this device a command and then just sit in my driveway, I’ll never get where I’m going. I have to make a move…

Sometimes life can be like this, especially for parents raising their children, or possibly caring for aging parents and raising children. There are also financial decisions to make, career choices that effect others. So many areas of life require stepping out. We know we need to do something, and often we know God is leading us in a certain direction, but it can be a fearful thing to take that first step. What if we’ve missed it? What if we don’t make the right decision?

God didn’t design this life to be lived always knowing what is next, and always sure of every step. There are times when we don’t know the route to our destination, or how long it will take to get there. But there is certainty in this–we have to take a step of action and move in a direction. Before anything will happen we have to “put our foot in the water.”

The Israelites faced this same type of decision when they arrived at the banks of the Jordan River. The promised land waited on the other side, but the river was swollen and dangerous to cross. It must have felt much safer to just stay where they were, but that’s not what they did! They obeyed God’s leading, trusting Him: “when the priests who are carrying the ark touch the waters with their feet, the river will stop flowing as though held back by a dam, and will pile up as though against an invisible wall.” (Living Bible) And this is just what happened, their feet passed through on dry ground!

Fear is something we all face in life. Some decisions we make will be life-changing not just for us, but for our families as well. When the Israelites faced a daunting river in front of them, they had a decision to make, trust God and move forward, or stay where they were and never get to the destination God had for them–the promised land. All God asks of us is to take a step and trust Him–“put your foot in the water!”