Standing on the Edge: Preparing for What God Has Prepared

There's something profoundly unsettling about standing on the edge of something new. Behind you lies everything familiar: the known paths, the established routines, even the comfortable struggles. Ahead lies promise, possibility, and the unknown. Between the two often stands an obstacle that seems insurmountable.

This is precisely where the nation of Israel found themselves in Joshua chapter 3. After forty years of wilderness wandering, they stood at the banks of the Jordan River. Behind them stretched decades of delay, regret, and excuses. Before them lay the promised land: everything God had covenanted with Abraham generations earlier. And between them and their destiny? A raging river at flood stage.

This wasn't just a geographical challenge. It was a spiritual crossroads. God had already prepared the promise for His people. The land was ready. The covenant was established. But before they could step into what God had prepared for them, God needed to prepare them for what He had prepared.

Keep Your Eyes Open

The first command given to Israel seems almost too simple: "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" (Joshua 3:3).

The Ark of the Covenant represented God's presence and leadership. The message was clear: if you want to move forward, keep your eyes on Me. Not on the obstacles. Not on the risks. Not on the impossibilities. On Me.

This echoes the wisdom of Hebrews 12:2: fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Direction always flows from focus. When we focus on fear, we freeze. When we focus on comfort, we settle. When we focus on people, we get distracted and disappointed.
What captures your attention today? Is it the overwhelming circumstances? The mounting pressures? The voices of doubt? Or is it the steady, faithful presence of the One who has never failed?

Notice the phrase at the end of verse 4: "For you have not passed this way before." This wasn't a warning; it was an announcement. God was saying, "What's ahead is unfamiliar and scary, but I will be faithful."

That phrase resonates across the centuries to us today. We haven't passed this way before. The challenges we face are new. The opportunities before us are unprecedented. The stretching required of us is uncomfortable. But the same God who led Israel through the Jordan leads us still.

Growing pains are good pains, but they're still pains. Stretching is healthy, but it's rarely comfortable. New territory requires new faith, new courage, and new dependence on God. And that's exactly where He wants us, not leaning on our own understanding, but trusting Him with all our hearts.

Prepare Your Hearts

Before God would part the waters, He gave another command: "Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you" (Joshua 3:5).

Before God does something around us, He insists on doing something within us.
Consecration isn't about surface-level spirituality or emotional hype. It's about deep, total surrender. It's positioning our hearts to receive what God wants to give. It's saying, "God, nothing in me matters more than You."

Here's a truth we cannot escape: we cannot carry wilderness habits into promised land living. If we want to experience the blessings and favor of God, we cannot be filled with ourselves and filled with sin at the same time.

Israel was out of Egypt, but Egypt wasn't yet out of Israel. The old patterns, the fear, the unbelief, the compromise, all these still shaped their thinking. God was telling them, "You cannot step into a prepared promise with unprepared hearts."

This isn't restriction; it's preparation for so much more. God ties consecration and wonders together beautifully in this verse: consecrate yourselves, FOR tomorrow I will do wonders. The connection is deliberate. No repentance, no revival. No surrender, no breakthrough. No holiness, no power.

God's wonders tomorrow are connected to our surrender today.

What needs to be surrendered in your life? What sin needs to be confessed? What bitterness needs to be released? What pride needs to be crucified? Consecration is the doorway to experiencing the miraculous.

Move Forward in Faith

The third command is perhaps the most challenging: "When you have come to the edge of the water of the Jordan, you shall stand in the Jordan" (Joshua 3:8).

Not near the Jordan. Not close to the Jordan. IN the Jordan.

Verse 15 tells us the Jordan was at flood stage during harvest time, overflowing its banks. It was raging, rapid, and terrifying. Stepping into that water made absolutely no sense. Yet that's exactly what God commanded.

And here's the crucial detail: "As soon as the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord...shall rest in the waters of the Jordan...the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off" (Joshua 3:13).

The water didn't part when Joshua preached a good sermon. It didn't part during the planning meeting or even when they prayed about it. The water parted when they stepped into it.

Faith always moves before miracles happen. Always.

Fear says, "Go back to where it's safe, where it makes sense." Faith says, "Go forward to where God is leading."

Can you imagine being one of those priests carrying the Ark? Your feet are approaching the raging water. Every natural instinct screams at you to stop. Logic argues against taking another step. But obedience requires you to put your foot in the water anyway.

That's faith in action.

Too many believers today are stuck at the riverbank. They're close to spiritual breakthrough. Close to new territory. Close to experiencing incredible things God has for them. But they miss out because they don't step out. They play it safe.

You'll never experience a miracle by playing it safe.

What does stepping forward in faith look like for you? It might mean serving when you don't feel qualified. It might mean giving when it stretches you. It might mean leading when you're scared. It might mean saying yes to God when your feelings scream no.

Faith steps first. God moves second. Every time.

The Promise Awaits

First Corinthians 2:9 captures the heart of this message perfectly: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him."

Think about the most amazing thing God could do in your life. As good and great as that seems, God is saying that I have things far, far better (things you can't even conceive) if you'll simply consecrate yourself and prepare your heart for what I have prepared for you.

We stand on the edge of something new. Behind us lies the familiar. Before us lies the promise. Between us and our destiny may stand a raging river that makes no sense.

But God is saying the same thing to us today that He said to Israel: Keep your eyes on Me. Prepare your hearts. Move forward in faith.

The promise is prepared. The question is: are we?

All for Him,

Pastor Dustin