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The longest journey...

 
The longest journey...
From the head to the heart!  I have to admit that I am in strange territory. I have never felt as spiritually dry as I am. I have a fair amount of head knowledge but it does not seem to make sense to the heart. So I go to the only place that I know will have the answers. I am back in Joshua 3. It is always a good idea to keep a record of your high moments – moments of victory. Somebody said to me : “Don’t forget in the dark what God showed you in the light.”
What did God show me at the start of this journey? Step out in faith and I did. Did I have enough faith to keep to the end of the journey, till I crossed the river? Is there a bank on the other side? If yes how long does the crossing take?
Thinking of river crossings, brought back memories of my childhood.
When I was growing up, way back when, in the days of my youth, yes a long time ago!! we lived on an island with no bridge. To get to the city, basically civilisation, we had to cross the Mandovi River, (Goa, India). Fortunately for me I can only remember using a motorised ferry that took a car and had a fairly reliable schedule of operation.
But there was another crossing that we used a couple of times a year. My family owned paddy (rice fields) and twice a year we went across at harvesting time. The only means of transportation was a dugout canoe. The river was deep and the narrowest point of crossing was at a place called Tolto. There were many dangers. We had no safety gear at all. We were so dependent on the boatman, who had a great fondness for caju fenny – the local brew. One never knew what state he was in. Also there were big river barges that crossed and left a huge wake that rocked our little canoe if we got caught in it. It always scared me and I wondered if we ever would make it safely to the other side. I did not know how to swim and I remember being most frightened when we were in the middle of this great big river. Of course it was the deepest part and it was the same distance going forward or turning back.  I clung to anyone sitting next to me and heaved a big sigh of relief when we reached the bank and were on solid ground again!
As I reread Joshua 3 and tracked the journey of the Israelites through the Jordan, I saw that the account has a note about the middle of the river.
So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. The priests 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 by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground. Joshua 3:16-17

The River Crossing
 Of course I don’t have the means – the faith or the strength to make this crossing on my own.  But God has kept His presence in the deepest part of the journey. He knows how scared I am and I can cling to Him and know that I will make it to the other side.  I so desperately wish that I was on the other side, but I can trust that as I fumble along, that His presence is in the deepest part and that He will stay there till I am on solid ground.  Duh! I am on solid ground, because He did part the river. I am standing on the Rock, the Firm Foundation. I am just impatient to get to the other side! Now for the journey from the head to the heart...

Comments

  1. Living Hope1 January 2012 at 16:11

    Thank you for the River Crossing...and the Mandovi River picture...you had a real experience which you can relate with Joshua 3, while you were reading; and the river looks like a sea...Wonderful!

    Have a great Blessed New year 2012.
    Elizabeth

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