{"id":640,"date":"2017-05-18T22:58:46","date_gmt":"2017-05-18T22:58:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/saffold.com\/blog\/?p=640"},"modified":"2019-04-08T15:22:36","modified_gmt":"2019-04-08T15:22:36","slug":"crossing-the-river-of-fear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saffold.com\/blog\/2017\/05\/18\/crossing-the-river-of-fear\/","title":{"rendered":"Crossing the River of Fear"},"content":{"rendered":"\n


<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n

 \n<\/p>\n

In three days, you will cross the Jordan River. <\/em>This is my command\u2014
\nbe strong and courageous! <\/em><\/span>For the Lord your God is with
\nyou wherever you go.\u201d  <\/em><\/span>Joshua 1:9-11<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The river was dark with fear: hesitations, doubts, timidity. On this side the people of Israel. On the other, the land of God\u2019s promise. Just step in. Walk across. Easy! Right?<\/p>\n

Wrong!<\/p>\n

There were two problems: the first physical, the second spiritual. The Jordan was at flood stage: wide, deep, fast, dangerous. God worked a miracle. The waters stopped. The river dried up. Problem one solved.<\/p>\n

The people had to solve the problem two. God was going to carry them across. They had to walk. The river of fear had to be crossed on foot. The only solution was courage.<\/p>\n

Life sometimes takes us to the banks of fearful rivers. God is not going to carry us across.  \u201cStep in and walk,\u201d He says, \u201cTime to get going.\u201d That first step can be terrifying! How do you take it?<\/p>\n

God gave Joshua a command: \u201cBe strong and courageous.\u201d Courage? It\u2019s hard but not an option. \u201cLift up your drooping hands,\u201d Hebrews says, \u201cand strengthen your weak knees\u201d (Hebrews 1:12).<\/p>\n

God also gave a promise. \u201cI will be with you wherever you go\u201d (Joshua 1:9).  Sounds like Jesus, \u201cI am with you even to the end of the age\u201d (Matthew 28:20).<\/p>\n

Are you standing before a river of fear? God has brought you to it. Your task is to gather courage. God will supply His presence.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you pass through the waters, I will be with you. . . and they will not overwhelm you\u201d (Isaiah 43:2).<\/p>\n

Challenge:<\/strong> If you are on the banks of a river of fear, take the first step, even if your knees shake. God will walk with you.<\/p>\n

Prayer:<\/strong> Father, I\u2019m scared to death of the next step. Help me to gather my courage and find strength in you.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  In three days, you will cross the Jordan River. This is my command\u2014 be strong and courageous! For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.\u201d  Joshua 1:9-11 The river was dark with fear: hesitations, doubts, timidity. On this side the people of Israel. On the other, the land of God\u2019s promise. Just step … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":641,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[48,47,46],"class_list":["post-640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-obstacles","tag-courage","tag-faith","tag-fear"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/saffold.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/river.png",770,468,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/saffold.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/river-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/saffold.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/river-300x182.png",300,182,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/saffold.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/river-768x467.png",600,365,true],"large":["https:\/\/saffold.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/river.png",600,365,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/saffold.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/river.png",770,468,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/saffold.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/river.png",770,468,false],"academica-featured-posts-widget":["https:\/\/saffold.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/river.png",75,46,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Guy Saffold","author_link":"https:\/\/saffold.com\/blog\/author\/guys\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"  In three days, you will cross the Jordan River. This is my command\u2014 be strong and courageous! For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.\u201d  Joshua 1:9-11 The river was dark with fear: hesitations, doubts, timidity. On this side the people of Israel. On the other, the land of God\u2019s promise. Just step…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/saffold.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/saffold.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/saffold.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saffold.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saffold.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=640"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/saffold.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":832,"href":"https:\/\/saffold.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640\/revisions\/832"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saffold.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/saffold.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saffold.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saffold.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}