So I heard this sermon the other day that really hit hard. I’m sure most of you know the story about Moses and him leading his people out of Egypt. They made it to the bank of the Jordan River and sent spies ahead to check out the promise land. The spies came back with stories of “giants”, but the land flowed with milk and honey. They were scared and turned back. Not to mention this river that they needed to figure out how to cross. They ended up wandering in the wilderness for 40 years. Sounds like fun, huh?
Then after 40 years Joshua is going to lead them to the promise land. He knows that he has the river to cross with all these people. The river was in his way. River=problem. So what does he do? He sends the presence of the Lord before him and the people. He sends the Ark of the Covenant before them and lets them know that the waters will part once it enters the river. How many of us can say that when we are faced with a problem, we send out the Lord’s presence? What about praying for a problem instead of trying to “fix” it ourselves. I am so guilty of trying to fix my own problems. However, God wants us to trust in Him and let him fix them for us. It might not be quick. It might not be easy. But if we trust in Him and give them to Him, he will take care of them.
So this “problem” of a river is before them. Joshua and the people praised God for what he was about to do. They had faith that the Lord would solve this problem for them. Did they moan and complain? Nope. Did they sob and ask why? Nope. They praised and worshipped for what they knew would happen. The priests carrying the Ark dipped their feet into the water and it parted. There they stood on dry land.
Problem solved. Right? The people walked across dry land and the priests stayed in the dry part of the river with the ark. When all had passed, they could have stepped up and out. The problem was over. How many of us pray for a problem and are happy when it is solved. Then we tend to forget about it. We may whisper a quiet, “Thank you Jesus” and then go on like it never it happened. Not Joshua.
He then placed twelve stones in the center of the Jordan river as an alter. He continued to worship and praise God in the midst of this “problem”. He also ordered that twelve men carry shoulder size boulders out of the river to take to town and build a memorial. He wanted everyone to see the smooth river rocks as proof of what the Lord had done to get them there.
This is the part that I like best. When the priests stepped out of the dry river bed with the Ark, the river returned to normal. This “problem” was no longer there, it was then a miracle. How many problems in your life have turned into miracles? How many times have we looked at what could have been a disaster but turned into something so good? Do you praise God before, during, and after all of these times? That is the hard part. It’s hard to praise Him when things are tough. It’s hard to praise Him when you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. But He deserves it! He can turn your problems into miracles. The people of Israel stood and looked forward at the Jordan and saw a problem but looked behind them at the Jordan and saw a miracle. It all depends on which direction you are looking.
I know that through the past 11 months we have had plenty of problems. Ones that seemed like they would never end. Ones that we are still in the process of getting through. Ones that are no longer problems, but miracles. I have tried so hard to praise Him throughout. When I heard this story about Joshua, I couldn’t help but relate our own situation. When we found out about Ricky’s tumor, we were crushed. However, we used the power of prayer and sent the Lord ahead of our situation. He helped us find the right surgeon and then the right neuro oncologist. Even though we were faced with speech problems, radiation, chemotherapy, mood swings, sleepless nights (I could keep on going), we tried to find even small things to be thankful about.
Were we disappointed when Ricky came out of surgery and couldn’t speak? Absolutely. However, we praised God that he had all of his motor skills. Were we disappointed when the doctor said he could remove 100% of the tumor, but only got 90%? Yup. But we praised Him that it was operable because so many are not. Were we disappointed when the tumor was a very rare Grade III Anaplastic Oligodendroglioma when they thought it was a Grade II benign tumor. YES! But we praised Him that it was not a Grade IV Glioblastoma that would have been even worse. I could keep going on and on, but I think you get the point =) Praise Him in every situation.
So, this cancer diagnosis is the river in our lives. We are 100% positive that God is working a miracle in our lives. We try hard to praise Him even during this difficult time. God is the same now that He was before the cancer diagnosis. He deserves the same praise that he did 11 months ago.
Remember that on the other side of every problem is a miracle.
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