Last two weeks, we've
been talking about fear. Many of you laughed at me for being afraid of bungee jumping. Thanks for all your wonderful suggestions on how I can overcome that fear. You've been a real blessing. (congregation laughing) It's easy to laugh at someone else's fear, it's not so easy to laugh at your own, but your fear is exactly that, your fear. Last 18 months have been
marked by a dramatic increase in anxiety and fear. Can't count how many
conversations I've had with people dealing with fear. Am I going to get sick? Is it safe to go out in public? Is it safe to go back to the church? What if I get COVID? What if my children get COVID? Is my business going to make it? Am I still going to have a job? What's going to happen in our country? What if we don't bounce back? When you know what's coming, you can plan ahead how to deal with it. When you don't know what's ahead, you don't know how to prepare yourself. For many people, not knowing
what's going to happen is the worst kind of fear. When you don't know what lies ahead, you can't see past the day and you're gripped by
uncertainty, the result is fear. You can quote 2 Timothy 1:7 "For God has not given
us the spirit of fear, but of love and power and self-control." You can quote that, but living
it's a little more difficult. I have a close friend
who's an excellent writer. And with her permission, I want to share a couple of
short excerpts from her journal. Here's what she wrote. "There's so much unknown for me. My future health, my future
family, a lot of uncertainties. I'm continually finding myself in that same bit of confusion. There's a lot I don't know right now, a lot I don't understand. I have a lot of questions, a
lot of things overwhelming me. I'm not afraid of dying. I'm not afraid of being alone. I'm not even afraid of losing
the people in the world I love the most. However, circumstances over
the last few years have led me to fear what I do not know, to
fear what tomorrow may hold. My optimism is often overtaken by fear. I have found that as bad
things continue to push on me, as the unpredictability
of my future surfaces, I fear what I do not know. I fear the unknown." Joshua and the Israelites had
to deal with the uncertainty and the unknown. It's a powerful story of
trust found in Joshua 3. Let me back up and set the stage for you, then we'll get to the story. Moses was an amazing leader
who led the Israelites out of captivity in Egypt. Even if you've never read
the story in the Bible, you may have seen "The Prince of Egypt" or some other movie about it. Under Moses's leadership,
Israel saw many miracles, the plagues, crossing the
Red Sea, water from a rock, manna or bread from heaven. Over and over, God used
Moses to lead the people in miracle moments. Then Moses died and
Joshua became the leader. Incredible pressure. Who wants to follow water from the rock, bread from the sky, talk
to God on a mountain Moses. But God gave Joshua assurance
and he let him know, "I have a plan, I will provide for you. Don't worry, keep my promise. Don't fear, I'll be with you. And then people rallied around Joshua. Joshua now stood on the brink
of the one area where Moses completely failed, leading
the Israelites in the land God promised them. In the story we look at today, Joshua came face-to-face
with the final obstacle and one of life's most intimidating fears, the fear of the unknown. Years before, Joshua was one of 12 spies sent to check out the Promised Land. He and Caleb were the
only two positive voices. The other 10 were all
negative and pessimistic. They said, "We're gonna get squashed if we try to go into that land." Well, Joshua learned,
he didn't send 12 guys, he sent two and he handpicked
them and they came back with a completely opposite report. They said to Joshua, "The
Lord has surely given the whole land in our hands. All the people are melting
in fear because of us." Word had spread about the
Israelites and the God they serve. Stories of spectacular
miracles made it all the way to the enemies who'd been
intimidated in the path and now those enemies were
afraid of the Israelites. After hearing the report, Joshua knew after 40 years
of wandering in the desert, it was time to take the land. And you might say so where's
the uncertainty in that? Where's the unknown? Chapter three, verse one,
"Early in the morning, Joshua and all the Israelites set out. They went to the Jordan where they camped before crossing over. After three days, the officers
went through the camp, giving orders to the people. When you see the Ark of the
Covenant of the Lord your God and the priests who are
Levites carrying it, you're to move out from your
positions and follow it." Now, look at this next line. "Then you will know which way to go because you've never
been this way before." None of the Israelites knew
where to go or how to get there. It was a new place. It was unknown territory. God's instruction was, "Follow
and you'll know which way to go since you'd never
been there before." I am horrible at following directions. I'm famous for getting lost. I've been lost on four continents. I'm not proud of it, it's just life, but it's not always my fault. Just wait. Over the years, students, years ago, you didn't have a phone with GPS on it. And so you couldn't just plug
in the place and go there. You had what they called maps and maps are these big paper things
about the size of a news. Well, you don't know
a newspaper is either. Big paper things about
four times this size that you would unfold
and then you try to find where you were and where you were going in that little teeny, teeny
pictures of roads on the map and it was almost impossible. So before GPS, you try to follow map or people would give you directions. And over the years I kept
track of the worst directions I've ever been given. I'd be going to some
small church somewhere and they'd tell me how to get there. Here's four or five of my least favorite. Turn right two blocks
before the corner store. I'll wait for you there. Turn left where the
gas station used to be. Here in Arkansas, we
all know this direction. If you've seen the Dollar
General, you've gone too far. My all-time favorite direction
was this, actual direction. Turn left at Bob Jones' house, the one where the big oak
tree got hit by lightning. Well, that tree isn't there
anymore, but that's the place. Oh, well, I'll just turn left
there, that should be easy. Once when hopelessly lost, I stopped at a gas station
and I took my map inside and told them where I was trying to go and the lady looked at me and said, "You can't get there from here." Another time in Africa, Scott Hanson and I were hopelessly lost. Now, Scott won't tell you that 'cause Scott struggles with pride and he doesn't want to admit the truth, but I've got the microphone and I'm here so I'll tell the truth and
he'll listen later online and he'll make up some
weird cheesy, he said, "We weren't lost because we
knew where we were going." We didn't know how to get there. And so we're hopelessly lost. And so he stopped to talk to
a villager and he and Scott talked in Swahili and when
they were done talking, Scott just rolled up the
window and we kept driving. I said, "What'd he say?" He said, "It doesn't matter." I said, "No, I wanna know what he said." He said, "He said no one has
ever been this way before." (congregation laughing) That was encouraging. And now a little more recent example, a couple of months ago, I asked
Cindy how to get somewhere and her reply was, "It's
the old Kmart used to be." And I said, "Well, I
never went the old Kmart." And she said, "Well, you should have. (congregation laughing) You'll find it." Even my GPS gives me bad directions, but here's the direction
I can handle: follow. If you tell me to follow, I can do that. Over a half million people
were headed somewhere they'd never been into the unknown. To make it more difficult, there was a significant
obstacle between them and the Promised Land, the Jordan River. Doesn't seem fair. After 40 years, it should
have been quick and easy. Just like the Israelites,
between you and God's promise there's often an obstacle. It's not how you want it. You want to see the promise, claim the promise and receive the promise. It'd be so much easier, but
there's something in your way. And often this is where
people give up and stop because the obstacle looks too big. The promise seems too far away, but the biblical pattern is
obedience precedes a miracle. You will never disobey
your way to a miracle. It doesn't happen. Good news is God doesn't
hide his will and direction. Your instruction is the same as that given to the
Israelites and God says to you simply, "Follow Me." (worship music) ♪ What if I stumble ♪ ♪ What if I fail ♪ ♪ What if I make a fool of myself ♪ ♪ What if the darkness prevails ♪ ♪ What if my darkest fears all come true ♪ ♪ Through these doubts and questions ♪ ♪ I hear Your voice breaking through ♪ ♪ And you say ♪ ♪ Follow Me, My beloved ♪ ♪ Trust in Me ♪ ♪ I will never leave ♪ ♪ Plant your feet on the
ground I lay before you ♪ ♪ Come and see more than
you'd ever dreamed ♪ ♪ Follow Me ♪ ♪ What if I triumph ♪ ♪ What if I win ♪ ♪ What if the giants fall around me ♪ ♪ What would I do then ♪ ♪ I'd stand and praise You ♪ ♪ I'd shout Your name ♪ ♪ So maybe I should start believing ♪ ♪ In the promises You've
made when You say ♪ ♪ Follow Me, My beloved ♪ ♪ Trust in Me ♪ ♪ I will never leave ♪ ♪ Plant your feet in the ground ♪ ♪ I lay before you ♪ ♪ Come and see more
than you'd ever dream ♪ ♪ Just follow Me ♪ ♪ Oh, just follow Me ♪ ♪ Trust Me with your future
and I will show you ♪ ♪ Wonders you've not seen ♪ ♪ Follow Me, My beloved ♪ ♪ Trust in Me ♪ ♪ I will never leave ♪ ♪ Just plant your feet on the ground ♪ ♪ I lay before you ♪ ♪ Come and see more than
you've ever dreamed ♪ ♪ Follow Me ♪ ♪ Just follow Me ♪ ♪ Follow Me ♪ - And when you follow Him, you don't have to worry about being lost. You don't have to know the directions. It's just stay close and follow. God told the Israelites, "Follow me, but keep a distance about 1,000 yards between you and the Ark. Don't go near it." Joshua told the people,
"Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will
do amazing things among you." To all the people with
the fear of the unknown, Joshua gave two very simple messages, "Follow and get ready." God's gonna do amazing things. Joshua said to the priest, "Take
up the Ark of the Covenant, pass on the head of the people." So they took it up and went ahead of them. And the Lord said to Joshua, "Today, I will begin to exalt
you in the eyes of all Israel so they may know that I am
with you as I am with Moses." God let Joshua know, "Not only
am I gonna do amazing things for the people, I'm going
to clearly demonstrate that I'm with you." God had a plan to deliver His people and to elevate His leader. God uses miracles to deliver and provide. He also uses miracles to make it clear to those watching you that He's involved, that He's with you. It's not about you being
special or smart or great. It's God with you and you with God. God told Joshua, "Tell
the priest who carry the Ark of the Covenant,
when you reach the edge of the Jordan's waters,
go stand in the river." Stand in the river. I wonder what would happen today if a leader gave that kind of instruction. I can imagine. Stand in the river. "Wait a second, I know better,
I've done the research. I saw an article on Facebook
that said never stand in a river carrying an ark. I get a better idea. We need to buy a boat or
we should build a bridge." People would take sides. You would have the anti-wading
into the river crowd, you would have the wade
into the river crowd, and you'd have the
immediate obedience crowd. Everyone would claim to be an expert. There is a low opinion
of spiritual authority in America today. The mindset seems to be
spiritual authority is secondary to my well-informed thought. I'm very concerned that
we're missing the voice in the direction of God. There was none of that with
Joshua and the Israelites. Joshua said to the Israelites,
"Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God. This is how you will know that
the living God is among you and he will drive out before
you all of your enemies. See the Ark of the Covenant
of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you. Now then choose 12 men
from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. And as soon as the priests
who carry the Ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth
set foot in the Jordan. It's waters flowing
downstream will be cut off and stand in a heap." God revealed to Joshua
exactly what he's going to do. Joshua was able to move forward boldly because he had a word from the Lord. The people on the other hand,
they didn't hear it from God, they heard it from Joshua,
and no doubt his word filtered through that huge crowd. There were those who thought
Joshua was absolutely crazy, but God's people followed
God's word from God's leader. And there have been a lot of
songs written about this moment over the years in a lot different styles. (upbeat praise music) ♪ After many long years in bondage ♪ ♪ God's chosen people had been ♪ ♪ Out in the wilderness wondering ♪ ♪ Was all because of sin ♪ ♪ Their leader had been old Moses ♪ ♪ And now that he had died ♪ ♪ God said to Joshua ♪ ♪ Cross over to the other side ♪ ♪ Cross over to the other side of Jordan ♪ ♪ The Lord to Joshua said ♪ ♪ Cross over to the other side of Jordan ♪ ♪ My people must be led ♪ ♪ No longer in the wilderness wander ♪ ♪ From Egypt's bondage flee ♪ ♪ And when you reach the other side ♪ ♪ You shall be free ♪ ♪ The river now lies before you ♪ ♪ And I the waters control ♪ ♪ Now is the time to cross over ♪ ♪ The waters back will roll ♪ ♪ A wonderful land awaits you ♪ ♪ Just over Jordan's tide ♪ ♪ Remember victory lies
over on the other side ♪ ♪ Cross over to the other side of Jordan ♪ ♪ The Lord to Joshua said ♪ ♪ Cross over to the other side of Jordan ♪ ♪ My people must be led ♪ ♪ No longer in the wilderness wander ♪ ♪ From Egypt's bondage flee ♪ ♪ And when you reach the other side ♪ ♪ You shall be free ♪ (upbeat praise music) ♪ Well then God said to Joshua ♪ ♪ Look toward the setting sun ♪ ♪ All the nations that you see ♪ ♪ Someday will be won ♪ ♪ Just as I was to Moses ♪ ♪ So I will be to thee ♪ ♪ I'll stand by you in battle ♪ ♪ I'll bring you victory ♪ ♪ Cross over to the other side of Jordan ♪ ♪ The Lord to Joshua said ♪ ♪ Cross over to the other side of Jordan ♪ ♪ My people must be led ♪ ♪ No longer in the wilderness wander ♪ ♪ From Egypt's bondage flee ♪ ♪ And when you reach the other side ♪ ♪ You shall be free ♪ ♪ Cross over to the other side of Jordan ♪ ♪ The Lord to Joshua said ♪ ♪ Cross over to the other side of Jordan ♪ ♪ My people must be led ♪ ♪ No longer in the wilderness wander ♪ ♪ From Egypt's bondage flee ♪ ♪ And when you reach the other side ♪ ♪ You shall be free ♪ ♪ When you reach the other side ♪ ♪ You shall be free ♪ (congregation cheering)
(congregation applauding) - See, you didn't think
we could do this style. We got that. Jordan got to play his banjo finally. He's so excited. That's fun. "So when the people broke
camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying
the Ark of the Covenant went ahead of them. Now the Jordan is at flood
stage during all harvest." That's a key point. This wasn't a drought so all the Israelites had
to do was cross a trickle. The Jordan River was at flood stage. We don't know exactly how wide it was. It's somewhere between a
quarter and a half a mile. And you can imagine what
some of them thought. "God, I love you, thanks for
your protection and leadership. Thanks for the water from the rock and the bread from the sky, but God, I'm not sure you're aware,
this is flood season. The water's up, the
current's flowing fast. This isn't a good time to
make the crossing, God, we should wait until the river's less." God said go, but circumstances said no. This won't work. Wrong time, wrong place. What do you do when God's word doesn't seem to match your circumstances? In those moments, you have to decide between trusting God and giving into fear. If you give into fear and
allow it to control you, you will miss the miracle
that God has for you. Look what happened next. "As soon as the priest who carried the Ark reached the Jordan and their
feet touched the water's edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing," and like a faucet being turned off, they look to their left
and the water stopped. The mighty Jordan River stopped flowing. And I want you to notice when it happened. The river didn't stop flowing
until the priests' feet touched the water. It'd be so much easier if
when they were 100 yards from the river it quit flowing. Or, as they look down from the mountain, they saw that the water had stopped or when God told them the
plan, the river dried up. Faith and trust would be so much easier if you could see the result, the outcome, the miracle in advance, but
it didn't happen that way. The water didn't stop
until the priests' feet touched the edge of the water. I mean, wouldn't you like to
have been one of those guys? Can you imagine their thoughts? "I love this priest gig, this is awesome. I enjoy carrying the Ark, but
what if this doesn't work? We're carrying a huge heavy
box on poles on our shoulders walking into a flood. Joshua better have heard from
God, because if he didn't, this is gonna be a crummy way to die." We don't know if they
thought that way or not. Were they uncertain because they were looking at circumstances? Or were they certain because
they had a word from God? Human nature is you go back and forth. There are moments the
enormity of your circumstances make it seem impossible
that there's just no way. In other moments your faith grows and you have a word from the Lord. At the Jordan River the miracle happened when they took a step of faith and for some of you, it's the same way. You need to take a step of
faith towards your miracle. Some of you have been praying
for a financial miracle. You need to take a step of
faith and give out of your need. You need to trust and obey God and tithe. Some of you've been praying
for a friend to accept Jesus. You need to take a step of faith and share and invite them to church. Others of you have been
praying that your children will become fully committed
followers of Jesus. You need to take a step
of faith and put God first in your life and then see what
happens as they follow you. Maybe you've been asking
God to help you make friends and form new relationships and you want healthy relationships. Take a step of faith,
join a Connection Class. Maybe you've been praying
that God will help you get free of a habit or an addiction. Take a step of faith, see us Tuesday night at Celebrate Recovery. Maybe you've been
praying that your student would be connected to the
right kind of friends. Take a step of faith and bring them to Reality on Wednesday night. I'm speaking this Wednesday night, some bring them this week. Somebody should have clapped right there. What was wrong with you guys? (congregation cheering)
(congregation applauding) Thanks a whole lot. It's the last night, a late
night, and I'm the guest. It's gonna be awesome. The priest took it's step of faith. They obeyed God's direction through Joshua and when their feet touched
the edge of the river at flood stage, it piled up in a heap a great distance away at
a town called the Adam with the water flowing down
to the Sea of the Arabah was completely cut off. Most archeologists believe
Adam was about 18 miles away. 18 miles away water started piling up. The picture of that is a huge
dam with the gates closed. All the water piled up. The difference is there wasn't a huge dam. The Israelites didn't send a
construction team up river. Instead the hand of God
held back the water. And I wonder what it was
like in Adam that day and what those people were thinking when all of a sudden
water started piling up. I don't know if you're aware of this, but you can't stack water. But somehow supernaturally
God stacked the water so the people crossed
over opposite Jericho. The priest who carried the Ark
of the Covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground
in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel passed
until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground. After 40 years, all the
uncertainty wondering if they were going to make
it to the Promised Land, if they'd always be in the
desert, the water stacked up. And I want to know more details. We're not exactly sure how
many Israelites there were, but it was somewhere
around 600,000 people. That's Dallas Cowboy's
stadium filled to capacity seven and a half times. Can you imagine how long
it took them to move? Come on, you know how
family vacations are? You've got speed walkers. You've got the middle of the pack walkers. You got kids who can't walk another step. And then you got the
people who get distracted every time they see ice cream. Let's assume all the
Israelites were focused. 600,000 people in rows of five
with two feet between them walking about an average
pace three miles an hour. It would take 15 hours
for the people in the back of the line to reach
where the line started and that doesn't even consider that they were carrying stuff, they were moving all
their possessions across, and the slow distracted walkers. This could not have
just been a whole ho-hum were walking across moment. They weren't calm and complacent. After years of uncertainty, this had to be an all-out celebration. The guys carrying the Ark stayed in the middle of the river as the people came by them dancing and shouting and
singing and celebrating and in that moment, no one wondered, "Can we defeat the enemies?" No one said, "Will we be
able to take the land?" It said they looked around and they said, "Who can stop us now? What enemy can do what we're doing? No god is greater than the God we serve." Not only did God stack up the
water, God dried the ground. They walked across on dry ground like the river had never even been there. They didn't even get mud on their sandals. And they saw God do the miraculous. The moment was noticed by the
enemies on the other side. Look at chapter five, verse one. When all the Amorite
Kings west of the Jordan, all the Canaanite Kings along the coast, heard how the Lord had dried up the Jordan before the Israelites
and we cross over it, their hearts melted with
fear and they no longer had the courage to face the Israelite. Fear switched places. Now it was not the
Israelites who were afraid, it was their enemies who were afraid. I don't have six steps, 10 keys or 12 principles for
when you fear the unknown. Instead, I want you to remember one thing. You serve the God who makes
the impossible possible. You serve the God who
stacked the Jordan River and let the Israelites
cross on dry ground. When everything around you
is certain, God is certain, God is not intimidated by
the thing you're afraid of. The obstacle that is in front of you is not an obstacle to God. That thing that you just don't see how you're ever gonna make it through. God says, "Follow me and watch because I'm gonna do amazing
things for you today." The start of this message I read you a couple excerpts
from my friend's journal. Now I want to read just a couple more. She wrote, "I do have
a lot of uncertainties, a lot of questions, a lot of fears. I don't know what tomorrow
holds for my health, for my family, for my
ministry or for me personally, yet I know somehow I have to find a way to get past the questions,
get past the fears and decide the only thing that really
matters for me is that no matter what I will face, I
will not face it alone. I'm learning and know I can lean on him. I can be honest with him. I can be real with him. And although life may go on,
he's going to go with me. I may not have all the answers yet. Probably never will. But for today, my trust lesson
is just simply lean on him. It's really all I know to do and he will meet me there." And then I love the last line. "I may be bound by my uncertainty, but I am freed by knowing
God stands with me. The true battle has been
won and in the end I win." God's answer to your what if question to the fear of the
uncertain is "Follow me. I will lead you through the fear. I will lead you through the
uncertainty and I will take you safely to the other side. I'm the guy who stacks water, and I make the impossible possible. I'm with you." Would you bow your heads with me? I'm going to pray for you today. I want to pray for you if you're facing an impossible situation. I'm not gonna ask you
to tell me what it is. But if you're facing
an impossible situation and you just don't know, you don't know how it's gonna change. You don't know how you're
gonna get through it. It just seems impossible. If that's you, would you
stand right where you are. We're gonna pray together. You say, "Well, what are
people gonna think if I stand." They're gonna think you're
facing the impossible and that's what I just said. And we're gonna pray and believe together if you're facing impossibilities today. Take a look around, if there's
somebody standing near you, would you stand with them? Put your hand on their shoulder,
put your arm around them if you know them. And we're gonna pray together. People standing with
you are going to pray. I'm going to pray. You can listen to them. You can listen to me, or you can pray on your own. Any of those options is fine. And we're gonna ask God to bring you through the impossible and we're gonna ask God
to chase away the fear of what's next and the
fear of the unknown. Come on, let's pray in
Jesus' name, in Jesus' name. God, we thank you today
that you are the God who does the impossible. You are the God who stacked
up water and dried up a river so the Israelites could cross over. You are the God who is not
afraid of any circumstance that's in front of us. You're a God who's not
intimidated by any obstacle. You are the God who makes
the impossible possible. And so now, Lord, I pray
for my friends in this room and my friends watching online
who are standing saying, "I seem to have something in front of me that's impossible that I
don't know the way through. I don't know what to do or
how I'm going to make it." God, we pray right now for
miracles in Jesus' name. We pray that the same
God who stacked the water would make their impossible
situation possible. Lord, I pray for miracles of healing. I pray for miracles of deliverance. I pray for miracles of restoration. I pray God for miracles of provision where it looks like there's no way out that you would supernaturally provide. Lord, I pray for people who
are taking an uncertain step into an unknown future and
they're not sure what it holds. God, we pray for your
miracle-working power to be a work in their lives in Jesus name. We thank you that you are
not intimidated or confused by what's in front of us, but you're the God who makes
the impossible possible. God, I ask you to do
miracles in such a way that no person can say I
came up with a good idea or I had a good plan or
somehow I pushed through, but instead they would say, and the people watching them would say, and even their enemies would
say "God's on their side because only God could do that." God, do miracles we pray in a
way that no one else can do. Lord, I pray that things
would begin to move in their direction today, this week, and you would begin to
show them that you make the impossible possible. Lord, today we come to you with our fear, the fear of the unknown
and the fear of what's next and we make the decision to simply follow, believing that as we follow
you, you will do amazing things. And we thank you for it. We thank you for it. Lord, I pray for people
who've just been overwhelmed by that fear. Right now I pray for the peace of God that passes understanding
to come in a powerful way and almost like taking a deep breath where they know that you're in control. That even though they don't know the way, you do know the way and all they have to do is follow. We will follow You Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen, amen.
