Standing Firm Midstream

Transcript

Hello, my friend… so glad you're with me today. This is By God's Call — day 64, Standing Firm Midstream.

"Now the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan." Joshua 3:17.

Let that scene take shape in your mind. The Jordan, at that time of year, was at flood stage — overflowing, powerful, dangerous. This wasn't a calm little creek to wade across. And still, God didn't tell the people to wait for the water to go down. He told the priests to go in first — carrying the ark of the covenant, God's presence, on their own shoulders.

Notice the order of things. Someone had to take the first step into the water before the miracle happened. The priests' faith didn't come after the river stopped — it came before. They stepped into the flooding current, trusting a word that hadn't yet been fulfilled in front of their eyes. And it was only when their feet touched the water that it stopped flowing.

But what strikes me most in this verse isn't the miracle of the water stopping. It's what comes next: the priests stood still. They didn't rush across to the other side the moment it worked. They stayed right there, in the middle of the riverbed, holding that opening steady, while the entire nation — men, women, children, the elderly, livestock — crossed on dry ground.

And the text makes a point of saying: until the whole nation had crossed. Not until half the people had passed. Not until the priests grew tired. Until the last Israelite stepped onto the other side. Their endurance had no short deadline — it lasted exactly as long as the people needed it to.

That makes me think about how often God calls someone to stand firm not for their own sake, but so that others can make it across. Maybe that's you today. Maybe your steadiness — at work, at home, in a friendship — isn't only for you. Maybe it's holding a path open for someone still in the middle of their own crossing.

And there's something else beautiful here. This same generation had grown up hearing their parents' stories about the Red Sea — how God had parted the waters when they left Egypt. But hearing someone else's story is not the same as living your own. And God, with tenderness, repeated the miracle — this time for this generation, in their own river, in their own moment. Because sometimes we need our own crossing, not just the one we've heard retold.

So today, think about this: is there someone around you in the middle of a hard crossing right now? A friend facing illness, a family member walking through loss, someone facing a decision that scares them? Be, today, the steady presence. Stand still wherever it's needed. Hold the way open until that person makes it through.

Your steadiness might be exactly the miracle someone else needs to see with their own eyes.

Stay close to God. Pray — then act. I'll see you tomorrow, my friend.