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.’ - Joshua 3:8 (NLT)
This has been quite a week. One of learning to step out on faith & learning to listen to the Holy Spirit, & it’s been quite an adventure!
I put in my two weeks’ notice at the library. Since mid-December, I’ve been working three jobs. In January, I found out I have to have wisdom teeth removal surgery, & thought I would have to stay with all three jobs financially, but it quickly became apparent to me that I needed to purify myself of some things.
All week I have been second guessing myself & what God was communicating to me. Looking back, I see it all clearly:
On break at work Tuesday, I opened my Bible, wanting to seek God in all this. God brought Joshua to my mind, an Old Testament chapter that I honestly had never read or thought anything of! Chapter 3 really stuck out to me, as well as the instances of the Israelites having to merely obey God to see victory, & the time that they did not where they failed. Yet when they did fail, God gave them a second chance & upon obeying Him, victory was won.
But Israel violated the instructions about the things set apart for the Lord. A man named Achan had stolen some of these dedicated things…
Joshua sent some of his men from Jericho to spy out the town of Ai… When they returned, they told Joshua, “There’s no need for all of us to go up there; it won’t take more than two or three thousand men to attack Ai…” …they were soundly defeated.
Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid or discouraged. Take all your fighting men and attack Ai, for I have given you the king of Ai, his people, his town, and his land. – Joshua 7:1-4, 8:1
God was asking me to step out on faith & trust Him with everything. My worries told me this was risky, that even though I’d be fine financially in normal circumstances, the coming surgery costs loomed over me; despite this, my body was physically screaming as it has been for many months, & it was affecting my ability to do all that I have at this time with the little energy & time available.
In all honesty, compared to other times, I didn’t feel like God was being as clear, but yet I now see that He was as clear as necessary, teaching me to live more deeply by faith & trust in Him. While reading & reflecting on Joshua, & also through wise counsel God provided, I was still afraid to make the decision to leave that job, but also felt it was the only sensible thing to do.
I felt the Holy Spirit nudging me to put in my notice at work on Thursday evening, but didn’t because I was blinded by my worry & wasn’t for sure if it was God. Planning to give my notice on Friday afternoon, I arrived at work only to find that my supervisor had left early for the day!
But our God is so incredibly merciful & faithful, & just as God gave the Israelites a second chance at victory, He gave me a second chance: My supervisor returned briefly before close & I was able to give my notice!
God is so good! He has loved on me so much this week, been so faithful. I don’t know why I doubt as I do, when He always comes through & even provides second chances, too! Burdens have been lifted from my back, praise You, God!
GOD IS SO GOOD!
