The priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all Israel . . . passed clean over Jordan. Joshua 3:17
There are sometimes moments in our lives that are quite life changing. One of those moments for me happened on the morning of February 16, 1976 in Coos Bay, Oregon. We were camped on the Coos River planting trees to raise support for our Bible School in Kerman, California. I felt like I was finished, you know, can’t do this another day. I was tired of the extremely hard work; the wet, cold conditions, and not knowing how much longer I would be living in the mountains. My devotion that morning was from ‘Table in the Wilderness’ by Watchman Nee. Today’s verse was the scripture reference, it speaks about the priests laying down their lives carrying the ark into the river so that others could follow. In a moment of time I saw a glimpse of God’s call on my life. If I would endure until the end I would see the harvest. The Lord was teaching me about carrying the cross and the pathway to harvest. Here is that devotion that disrupted and comforted me that morning by the Coos River.
“We must have faith to see all God’s people brought into their inheritance. That is His purpose, and it will be carried through. But as a means to realizing that purpose, God needs those willing to step right into death if need be, and to stand there steadfast until all are safely over. Because that little band of priests did so, holding firm with the ark in the place where death threatened, a whole nation passed dry-shod clean through Jordan. Not one soul remained behind! Of course it was not they but the ark of God that opened the way into a land of promise. Never forget that. But note this too: it was they who took it there and held it there. By their act of faith in standing with the Lord amidst death, others passed into abundant life. Am I ready for this?”
It is the Holy Spirit that opens our eyes to connect the dots. He showed me the connection between what He was doing in me on that tree planting trip and the future harvest of souls that I would see. Just a glimpse of that truth changed my attitude and strengthened me to finish the course. That has been over forty years ago now and I am still grateful for that simple lesson that encouraged me to finish the race.