Today you will know that the living God is among you. He will surely drive out the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites ahead of you. Joshua 3:10
A friend and I were exercising the other day when my friend challenged me to do sit-ups with a 10-pound weight. For me, that was a challenge. My first thought was “I can’t.” When I expressed my doubt, my friend encouraged me, saying, “Just try it!” Her encouragement led me to accept her challenge, and it was, indeed, a challenge. About halfway through the challenge, I started becoming tired, and my friend said, “Keep going.” At her encouragement, I kept going and completed the 30 sit-ups she had challenged me to do. I was able to do them, but I had to choose endurance, especially as they became more challenging toward the end. The truth is, getting physically strong requires endurance, lifting weights that challenge us, even when it is hard. The same is true with our spiritual strength. It requires endurance to continue following God and His instructions, even when the obstacles we face are challenging.
Joshua, the man tasked in Joshua 1 with leading the Israelites after Moses’ death, demonstrated endurance amid obstacles as he led them to the Promised Land. Moses had been the previous leader of the Israelites. God had appointed Moses in the book of Exodus to lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt to a new land that He had promised for them to live. This land appropriately became known as the Promised Land. Unfortunately, we learn from the book of Numbers that the Israelites failed to trust God during their journey to this land and complained. As a result of their failure to trust God, they could not yet enter into the Promised Land. The Israelites had to spend 40 years living in the wilderness when, ultimately, a new generation of Israelites would enter the Promised Land. The book of Joshua takes place when it was finally time for the Israelites to enter the land they had been waiting to call home. Joshua was the man for the job to lead them to their new home. He said to the officers of Israel in Joshua chapter 1, “Go through camp and tell the people to get their provisions ready. In three days you will cross the Jordan River and take possession of the land your God is giving you” (verses 10-11). The moment they had been waiting for had come. They could finally leave the wilderness and settle in the Promised Land.
As the Israelites made their way to the Promised Land in Joshua 3, they encountered quite an obstacle: the Jordan River. Joshua was not worried, however. He fully trusted that God could help them cross the Jordan River. He said to the Israelites, “Today you will know that the living God is among you” (verse 10). In other words, Joshua was encouraging the Israelites not to worry about the obstacle in front of them. Instead of worrying, they could trust God to get them across the river into the Promised Land. That is exactly what happened. God miraculously created a dry walkway through the river for them to cross.
I can only imagine that as Joshua led the Israelites across the Jordan River, he had God’s command to him ringing in his ear: “Be strong and courageous” (Joshua 1:9). Indeed, Joshua demonstrated strength and courage as he boldly led the Israelites, fully trusting God as they came upon the obstacle of the Jordan River. As he led with strength and courage, he certainly loved God with all his strength. What a remarkable example for us to follow!
God may not be calling you to lead an entire group of people across the Jordan River, but He is calling you to do something. In fact, He may be calling you to do something difficult that threatens to bring on fear and doubt. Your call today is to persevere and keep going. Take one step today toward obedience, choosing perseverance through difficulty and fear. Remember the promise that God gave Joshua as he called him to be “strong and courageous” in Joshua 1:9, “The Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
“God, I want to follow the example of strength and courage that Joshua demonstrated. Help me…”
Joshua 3:1-17
1Early the next morning Joshua and all the Israelites left Acacia Grove and arrived at the banks of the Jordan River, where they camped before crossing. 2 Three days later the Israelite officers went through the camp, 3 giving these instructions to the people: “When you see the Levitical priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God, move out from your positions and follow them. 4 Since you have never traveled this way before, they will guide you. Stay about half a mile behind them, keeping a clear distance between you and the Ark. Make sure you don’t come any closer.”
5 Then Joshua told the people, “Purify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do great wonders among you.”
6 In the morning Joshua said to the priests, “Lift up the Ark of the Covenant and lead the people across the river.” And so they started out and went ahead of the people.
7 The Lord told Joshua, “Today I will begin to make you a great leader in the eyes of all the Israelites. They will know that I am with you, just as I was with Moses. 8 Give this command to the priests who carry the Ark of the Covenant: ‘When you reach the banks of the Jordan River, take a few steps into the river and stop there.’”
9 So Joshua told the Israelites, “Come and listen to what the Lord your God says. 10 Today you will know that the living God is among you. He will surely drive out the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites ahead of you. 11 Look, the Ark of the Covenant, which belongs to the Lord of the whole earth, will lead you across the Jordan River! 12 Now choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. 13 The priests will carry the Ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth. As soon as their feet touch the water, the flow of water will be cut off upstream, and the river will stand up like a wall.”
14 So the people left their camp to cross the Jordan, and the priests who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant went ahead of them. 15 It was the harvest season, and the Jordan was overflowing its banks. But as soon as the feet of the priests who were carrying the Ark touched the water at the river’s edge, 16 the water above that point began backing up a great distance away at a town called Adam, which is near Zarethan. And the water below that point flowed on to the Dead Sea until the riverbed was dry. Then all the people crossed over near the town of Jericho.
17 Meanwhile, the priests who were carrying the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant stood on dry ground in the middle of the riverbed as the people passed by. They waited there until the whole nation of Israel had crossed the Jordan on dry ground.
©2026 Sagebrush Church
