You've never been this way before

So it was, after three days, that the officers went through the camp; and they commanded the people, saying, “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests, the Levites, bearing it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it. Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before.” – Joshua 3.2-4

Life is full of new experiences. In a way that is life, isn’t it. The first day of school is always an adventure. I remember my first day of junior high school (way back in 1966) sitting on the bleachers at Stone Junior High and feeling totally at a loss. Remember getting married? Remember anticipating your first child? Remember moving to a new city or state (or country)?

All of theses can make us a little anxious or fretful or nervous because we have ‘never been this was before.’ It is the great fear of the unknown. We don’t really know the way so we need help, whether we realise it or not.

Israel was in a situation like that. There were preparing to cross the Jordan and enter Canaan. I am sure that stories and legends and myths had developed about the giants in the land that had scared their parents off forty years before.

But God told them to stay back a ways from the priests so that they would know which way to go. The priests carried the ark of God which was the symbol of God’s presence. God would lead them if they would follow.

We need not fear our own ‘never been this was before’ moments. God will lead us into the unknown if we step back long enough to follow Him.

Our Lord knows the way in the wilderness and the way into new experiences – all we have to do is follow.