Have You Gotten Your Feet Wet Yet?

This question changed my life.  There were a number of things that I wanted that, for some reason, weren’t happening. It was frustrating to say the least. Even when you’re working very hard to practice patience and to live in gratitude, when what you want most is what seems determined to elude you, it can reach a point where even your spiritual faith can be challenged.

For each of us, those missing pieces or results can be very different. It can be something significant or just a whispered wish. It might be a failing relationship, health issues that aren’t getting better, financial stress with no relief in sight, a desire to travel more that keeps getting delayed, no time for a hobby that lights you up, or any number of other things. What comes up for you? Where have you been waiting and begun to wonder if you’re even in the right line?

I found myself right there.

First let me acknowledge that your spiritual life may be different from mine. Your faith practice may be different. But one thing I believe we will share in common is that every faith practice has written guidance that is considered divine. For my faith, that is the Bible.

Quite often, whatever our spiritual tome may be, it is a study for us in our youth, but over time, even if we continue to practice our faith, how we learn about it may shift to more contemporary spiritual teachers.

That’s also where I was when recently I made the decision to renew my daily Bible reading. I’ve been reminded that what I love most about the Bible is how it leverages the power of illustrative stories.

In one of my recent readings, I came across a story that shifted everything for me. You may remember the story but this one I had forgotten about. There are two stories that seem to hold a similar miracle. This one is the second.

The first story of the pair was about a miracle that happened when the Israelites were escaping Egypt and needed to cross a large body of water (The Red Sea) and God made a way across for them. In that story, God just required Moses (then their leader) to lift his staff. Simple enough. Raise your staff, I’ll part the waters, and you can all safely cross. That’s a dramatic story to be sure. God will make a way. We just have to show up.

The second story and miracle also involved crossing a body of water. But this time, they weren’t moving away from something, they were moving toward their future. This time, Joshua is the leader. To get to where they were going next, they had to cross the River Jordan. But this time, for the miracle to happen, they had to get their feet wet.

This is the story I had forgotten.

Imagine! On the other side of that vast river lies your future and all God asks is that you step into it. That you get your feet wet.  Might be a bit daunting. Especially on the heels of that last miracle. What happened to just raising the staff? To saying the prayer?

Now it’s not about moving away from danger, it’s about moving toward a promised future. It’s about walking in faith instead of just believing.

But back to our story. Did the waters part when they stepped into the river? Not right away. No, translations tell us that the water was about shoulder high when in a flash it was parted for them and they crossed, once again, on dry land.

They had to get their feet wet. And keep walking.

As I was reading that story, I thought about my life and those things that I want to move toward. My future. I had been waiting. For what?

My question was answered with another question. The question that followed was clear:

Have you gotten your feet wet yet?

No, I hadn’t. That question shifted everything. It revealed the answer. You see, I wanted those waters to part first. I wanted to clearly see what I was stepping into, all the way to the other side.

But that isn’t living or walking in faith.

I think many of us share this struggle. We want those plans laid out. We do not want to wade into unknown waters. But that’s often what is asked of us.

The key is that faith alone isn’t enough. We must be faithful as well.  That means we walk forward and trust that the right door will be there and that it will open.

It is where hope begins to shift into true faith.

The founder of our cohort here at Yes, I Can Living shared a wonderful lesson on this from her life about a coffee mug.  You can read about it again here. It’s about moving from desire (prayer) to intentional living (walking in faith). It’s about taking bold action in faith. Can you do that with a coffee mug? It turns out that you can.

What about you? Where is it time to step into your River Jordan and get your feet wet? It’s the ultimate expression of faith when we step forward in it. And it’s the only path to the miracles that are waiting for us.