Tracking Transition: Get Your Feet Wet!

Discussion Guide for Sunday, February 16, 2020

GET YOUR FEET WET!

Series: Tracking Transition – Following God into Your New Beginning

Big Idea

Sometimes, transition requires you to take risky steps of faith. We learn this lesson from Joshua 3. Joshua is completing his first full week as the leader of the children of Israel, and it’s time to move in on the Promised Land. There’s a problem – to do so, they have to cross the Jordan River. Verse 15 tells us that the river has spread to almost a mile wide and twelve feet deep. They didn’t know how they were to get across. All they had was faith in a promise from God that “He brought them out from there in order to bring them in” (Deuteronomy 6:23)

In Joshua 3, there is a recurring phrase – “that you may know”. It shows up three times, and each time reveals why God wants us to take risky steps of faith. The phrase appears for the first time in verse 4. It teaches us that God wants to direct our path. They did not know all the details about where they were going, but God knew because He’d already been. The only requirement was to follow His leadership. The second time it appears is in verse 7, and from it, we learn that God wants to distinguish our potential. Joshua did not have to promote himself. God was going to do it, and He would confirm His work for both Joshua and the people. The final time we see our phrase is in verse 10. There we discover two things: 1) God wants to display His presence, and 2) demonstrate His power. The reason the text refers to Him as “the living God” is because the gods of the Canaanites were dead. To possess their Promised Land, they had to take a risky step of faith.

Discussion Questions

• What has stopped you from taking a risky step of faith in your past? How did it affect your walk with God? Did you miss out on one of God’s promises?
• How are you feeding your faith? What devotional habits have you built into your daily routine to deepen your walk with God? If not, what habits can you start?

Prayer Focus

Father, I am so grateful that You know all the details of my future. Help me to submit myself daily to Your Spirit’s leading. I trust You to promote me at the right time, but I need Your help to stay humble in the meantime. You are not dead! You are alive, and You fight all of my battles for me. Thank you, Jesus!

Next Steps

Taking a risky step of faith requires spiritual courage. It is doing what you’ve never done so that you can get what you’ve never had. Another way to explain is stepping out on the Word of God. One of the areas that God often speaks to us about is in the use of our spiritual gifts. Ask God where your gift, talent, or special ability can be used to build the Kingdom, and then take a step of faith by getting involved in one of our ministries.

Want to Get Ahead?

Read and meditate on Joshua 4 in your devotional time this week.