“…for the Jordan overflows all its banks during the whole time of harvest…”
Joshua 3:15
This past Thanksgiving, we visited my in-laws who live on the Georgia coast near Jekyll Island. A salt-water river runs in front of their house giving them easy access to the ocean. When you look out their front door, you see the tall grass of the marsh, with the river behind it, and then more marshland that seems to go on forever. Thanksgiving morning, however, I saw a different sight. The marshes were barely visible! Instead of a river, it looked like a lake, with the top of a few of the tall grasses poking up through the surface.
As I looked at the overflowing river, I couldn’t help but think of the appearance of the Jordan when Joshua and Israel stood on its banks prior to entering the land of Canaan. Bro. Gene had recently preached from that very text, so it was fresh on my mind. I thought about how the Lord so often works in our lives. Of all the times for the children of Israel to arrive at the Promised Land, it was during the season that the Jordan overflowed! They had children, livestock, and carts that had to get across, and, humanly speaking, it was the worst time to forge that river. Why did they show up at that time? Because it was exactly the time God had determined! You see, God doesn’t put us in places that are difficult. God places us in situations that are impossible!
Why does God work that way? It’s for our own good, children, that no flesh should glory in His presence! (1 Co 1:29) Gideon and his 32,000 were outnumbered by their enemies, but God told him to send some men home. What? The odds are already against us! Why? God said, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’” (Jdg 7:2) See, the situation needed to not simply be hard but impossible! It’s at those times God does His greatest work, and when He works, there’s no doubt Who is responsible! He gets all the glory!!!
Is your Jordan overflowing right now? Does the situation seem to be going from bad to worse? Take heart, dear Christian! If God is for you, who can be against you? (Rom 8:31) The overflowing Jordan is nothing to Him! The children of Israel walked through that riverbed on dry ground!!! (Jos 3:17) Be comforted by the Lord’s promises. He will always keep His word!
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the LORD your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior…” (Is 43:1-3)
There’s a small bird that lives in the marshes of South Georgia that the locals call a marsh hen. We enjoyed a pretty good meal of fried marsh hen one of the nights we visited with the in-laws. These birds stay so deeply embedded in the marsh that it’s impossible to get to them except at one time–when the tide is so high that the river overflows! For those that trust in the Lord, the overflowing river is nothing more than a tool to bring forth the blessing God has in store!
Jamie
