Greetings in the name of the Father, the son, and the Holy Spirit.
“The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” – Deuteronomy 31:8
Have you ever stood at the edge of something so big it made your breath catch in your throat?
Maybe it was the night before you moved to a city where you didn’t know a soul. Maybe it was the moment before you walked into a hospital room, or the second before you hit “send” on a message that would change a relationship forever. There is a specific kind of silence that exists on the edge of a threshold. It’s a mix of “finally” and “what now?”
Thousands of years ago, a man named Joshua was standing in that exact silence. He was standing on the banks of the Jordan River. Behind him was forty years of dust—the wilderness, the mistakes of his ancestors, and the safety of the familiar. In front of him was a river at flood stage and a land full of giants.
But Joshua wasn’t just facing a change in geography; he was facing a change in identity. For the first time, the great leader Moses was gone. The “safety net” was gone. It was just Joshua, a million expectant faces looking at him, and the voice of God.
We all find ourselves on that riverbank eventually. We feel the pull of a “promised land”—a life of more meaning, more peace, and more connection—but the river in front of us looks too deep to wade through. Today, we’re going to look at the three things God told Joshua in that moment of transition, because they are the same three things that bridge the gap between where we are and where we are meant to be.
I. The Mission: The Invitation to Step In
The first thing God says to Joshua is almost startlingly direct: “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them” (Joshua 1:2).
It seems a bit cold at first, doesn’t it? To start a new chapter by highlighting a death? But there is a profound, albeit sharp, mercy in those words. God is telling Joshua that the past—as monumental as it was—is finished. The era of the wilderness, the season of wandering, and even the safety of Moses’ leadership are over. Joshua was standing on the edge of a threshold, and the only way forward was to leave “yesterday” behind.
For many of us, the “wilderness” is strangely comfortable. We aren’t quite happy where we are, but we are terrified of the “river” we have to cross to change. We settle for a life of survival because, even though it’s dry and lonely, at least we know how to navigate the sand. We tell ourselves, “I’ll change when the circumstances are perfect,” or “I’ll seek God once I’ve fixed my own mistakes.” But the message God gives Joshua—recorded in the Bible to remind us of the truth today—is that we weren’t created for survival; we were created for inheritance.
In our lives, the “Jordan River” represents that daunting barrier between our current self and the life we were actually made for. When Joshua looked at that river, it wasn’t a babbling brook; the Bible tells us it was at flood stage, overflowing its banks (Joshua 3:15). It looked impossible. For us, that barrier might be a habit that feels like a prison, a deep-seated feeling of “not being enough,” or the weight of things we’ve done that we can’t take back. We stand on the bank, looking at the water, and we think we have to build our own bridge to get to the other side.
But look at the language God uses. He says in Joshua 1:3, “I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses.” Notice the tense: “I will give.” The mission wasn’t about Joshua’s ability to build a bridge or outmaneuver an army; it was about his willingness to receive what was already promised. This is the heartbeat of the story: God doesn’t wait for us to swim across to Him; He is the one who initiates the crossing.
We often think we need to get our lives together before we can approach the Divine. We imagine a God who stands on the far bank with His arms crossed, waiting for us to prove we are brave enough to make it over. But the reality revealed in the Bible is the exact opposite. Just as God called Joshua to move because the land was already given, He calls us to move because He has already come to us.
God tells Joshua three times to “be strong and courageous” (Joshua 1:6, 7, 9). This isn’t a command to conjure up self-confidence; it is a call to trust in a reality that is bigger than the floodwaters. Real courage is simply taking the next step because you believe the One who called you is more reliable than the river in front of you.
The most beautiful part of this mission is that we don’t take the first step alone. Centuries after Joshua, the Word of God took on flesh and blood in Jesus. He didn’t just stand on the bank and give directions; He stepped into the deepest, darkest “rivers” of human experience—our pain, our shame, and even death itself—to make a way where there was no way. He crossed the ultimate distance so that our “mission” is no longer about our own strength, but about walking in His. As it says in 1 John 4:19, “We love because he first loved us.” The invitation isn’t to be perfect; it’s simply to trust His goodness enough to step into the water.
II. The Compass: The Rhythm of the Heart
After giving Joshua the mission, God gives him a strategy. But if Joshua was expecting a military manual filled with flanking maneuvers, supply chain logistics, or chariot maintenance, he was in for a surprise. Instead of a sword, God points him toward a Book.
“Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful” (Joshua 1:8).
This ancient text, which was God’s Word , was to be Joshua’s primary weapon. But God wasn’t asking him to simply read it once and check a box. He used a very specific word for “meditate”: hagah. In the original Hebrew, this doesn’t mean sitting in a silent room trying to empty your mind. In fact, it’s almost the opposite. Hagah is the sound a lion makes when it’s growling over its food, or the low murmur of someone memorizing a beautiful poem. It is an active, vocal, constant “chewing” on the truth.
But here is where the strategy becomes a relationship: meditation is meant to be a conversation. It is the bridge where reading the Bible turns into a “true prayer”—a moment where you aren’t just thinking about God, but you are actively working things out with God.
God was telling Joshua: “The world is going to be loud. The giants will shout at you. The river will roar. You need a louder song in your heart than the noise of the world.” He knew that Joshua’s courage wouldn’t fail because he lacked physical strength; it would fail if he stopped whispering the promises of God to himself and started listening to the whispers of his own fear.
The reality is that we are all “meditating” on something. We all have a “low growl” or a constant murmur running through our minds.
- We meditate on our anxieties, playing out “worst-case scenarios” on a loop.
- We mutter our insecurities to ourselves, repeating the lie that we aren’t enough.
- We “chew” on the things people have said about us on social media or the mistakes we made a decade ago.
Whatever you repeat to yourself becomes the compass that steers your life. God knew that if Joshua’s mind was filled with the height of the walls of Jericho, he would turn back. But if his mind was filled with the character of the God who parts seas, he would be unstoppable.
Lord, we pause here because we realize our minds are often crowded with the wrong songs. We have spent so much time “muttering” our fears. Right now, we want to trade our worries for Your Word. We want to take Your promise that You are with us and “growl” it over our lives until we actually believe it. Help us to not just read these pages, but to meet You within them.
Meditation becomes a “work out” with God when we take a verse and say, “God, You say You will never leave me. But I feel alone. Help me trust Your Word more than my feelings.” That is the rhythm of a heart that is finding its way home. When the Truth of who He is becomes the loudest song in our hearts, we find that the “rivers” in front of us no longer seem quite so wide.
III. The Assurance: The Shadow Behind Your Shadow
Finally, we arrive at the most crucial part of the story—the “Why.” Why should Joshua risk everything to cross a flood-stage river? Why should he spend his nights muttering words from a scroll? God does not leave him wondering. He provides an assurance that shifts the entire weight of the mission from Joshua’s shoulders onto His own:
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9).
This is the hinge upon which the entire human story turns. Throughout history, people have looked at the accounts in the Bible and asked, “Why would God bless these people? Why Joshua? Why Israel?” If you look at their track record, they weren’t particularly brave, holy, or talented. They were a band of former slaves who had spent forty years complaining in the desert. The answer is found in the radical nature of God’s character: Goodness. God didn’t choose them because they were good; He chose them because He is good. He chose Abraham and his descendants not as a reward for their perfection, but as a canvas for His mercy.
This “Assurance” changes everything for us today. If your success in life depends on your own courage, you will eventually hit a wall. Everyone’s courage has a breaking point. But if your success depends on the Presence of the One who sustained the universe, then your courage is anchored in something indestructible.
Think about a child walking through a dark house at night. If that child is alone, every shadow is a monster and every creak of the floorboards is a threat. But if that child is holding their father’s hand, the shadows haven’t changed, and the house is still dark—but the child’s heart has transformed. The father’s presence changes the atmosphere of the room. God was telling Joshua, “I am the shadow behind your shadow. I am the ground beneath your feet. Even when you feel alone in the middle of the river, I am the water that holds you up.”
This is the ultimate message given to Joshua. We are a people who have wandered. We are a people who have been paralyzed by fear. But God, in His radical goodness, has chosen to be “with us.” This isn’t just a nice sentiment; it is a historical reality. The Bible reveals that God doesn’t just give us a map and wish us luck; He walks the path with us.
Therefore, we stop to acknowledge that we have often tried to face our “giants” alone. We have felt the weight of being “chosen” as a burden of performance rather than a gift of Your presence. Right now, we lean into God’s promise. We thank God who comes down to the riverbank to meet us.
In the person of Jesus, this promise took on flesh. He is called Immanuel, which means “God with us” (Matthew 1:23). He walked the hardest path of all—through the “river” of impossibilities—just so we would never have to walk a single inch of our lives alone again. This is the reality of the “chosen” people by God including you. As the Bible illustrates through Joshua, the chosen simply obey God’s Word, believe His promise, and walk forward while trusting that He is already there, waiting in the future, which might be so greatly feared.
Summary: The Step of Faith
So, here we are, back on the banks of the Jordan. After walking through the transition of Joshua, we realize that this story is not merely a historical account found in the Bible; it is a mirror for our own lives. Joshua’s story tells us that the “Chosen People” aren’t a special club of perfect individuals or those who have never felt a moment of doubt. In reality, the chosen are simply the people who hear the promise and decide to move. They are the ones who say, “I don’t know how the water will part, but I trust the One who told me to step in.”
You might feel like you’re standing in the dust of the wilderness today. You might feel like the past is too heavy to carry or the future is too foggy to navigate. But the same Voice that spoke to Joshua is whispering to you through the pages of the Bible today:
- The Mission is yours: You were not created to just survive; you were created for an inheritance. There is a life of purpose, peace, and deep connection waiting for you on the other side of your fear.
- The Compass is ready: You don’t have to be guided by the “growl” of your anxieties. There is a Truth that can quiet the noise in your head and reset your internal GPS toward hope.
- The Assurance is real: The most powerful words you can ever hear are, *”I will be with you.”* You are not doing this alone.
The goodness of God isn’t a reward for your hard work or a trophy for your bravery; it is the gift that enables you to even take the first step. He chose you out of His own goodness before you even knew His name. As the Bible reminds us, He has been with you “wherever you have gone”—even in the valleys of shadow and the places you’re ashamed to remember. He was there then, and He is ready to be with you in the places you’re afraid to go now.
The water is high, and the bank is safe, but the promise is on the other side. Will you stay on the bank, or will you trust the Promise and step into the water?
Let’s pray together,
Father, we thank You that You are a God who speaks in the silence of our thresholds. We thank You that You don’t leave us to wander in the wilderness of our own making, but You constantly call us toward home—toward a life of meaning, grace, and peace.
For the person here who feels overwhelmed by the “River” in front of them, would You grant them a courage that isn’t their own? Let them hear Your voice over the roar of their fears. For the one who has been navigating by their own wisdom and finding themselves lost, would You be their Compass today? Let Your words of love become the song they mutter to themselves in the dark.
And most of all, let us rest in the assurance that You are with us. Whether we are in the valley or on the mountain, in the desert or the Promised Land, You do not leave. Thank You for Your goodness that chose us before we ever chose You. We step forward now, trusting that You are already there.
In the name of Jesus who crossed every barrier to bring us to the promised land—Amen.
“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” – Numbers 6:24-26