Episode 10 - Stones to Remember

Welcome to episode 10! Today, we are talking about combating anxiety by becoming aware of where God is and has been throughout our journeys. We will be reading from the book of Joshua, chapters 3 & 4, Psalm 34, Psalm 46, Psalm 103, and 2 Timothy 1:7 NIV. Thanks for listening! 

Transcript

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Hello and welcome to the Full Armor of God podcast. My name is Taylor. I am so excited to host you for week 10. Thank you for coming back for another week of the Lord's Wisdom. We are talking about combating anxiety today. We've been talking a lot about the Israelites in the desert, and we've seen how they have been keeping their eyes on the problem, on the desert ahead of them, instead of who is leading them through the desert. So today we are going to be fixing our eyes on who is leading us to combat the anxiety. Because I think the anxiety builds up and the fear builds up when we feel like we need to carry the weight of the world's problems on our shoulders, like we're going through it alone and we have no one to turn to, and we are responsible for getting everything done and solving all of the problems when God invites us to just look to Him. So today we are fixing our eyes on the one who is leading us through the desert, through the difficult times. For our readings today, our narrative, the story is going to come from the book of Joshua, chapter four. I encourage you to read chapters three and four sometime throughout this week to get the full picture, but we're going to be picking apart chapter four in the book of Joshua. We will also be running through some psalms, and I encourage you to read through the whole psalm. They're not really long, but we'll be reading through parts of Psalm 34, Psalm 46, and Psalm 103. And then we're going to read from 2 Timothy chapter 1, verse 7. Where we're at in the book of Joshua. This is after 40 years of wandering in the desert. The generation that said, We cannot make it into the promised land. There's no way this is going to happen. God tells them this generation is actually not going to see the blessing that I set apart for you because you didn't trust me enough to see it. But your children are going to see it. The ones that you thought were in such danger. They will be the ones to see it. So Joshua, Moses' successor, is now the one preparing the people to step into the promised land. And remember, there are people living in the promised land that they need to fight and drive out of the land. So the Israelites have been preparing. This new generation has been preparing. Their parents and grandparents most likely were the ones who walked through the Red Sea. They may not have walked through the Red Sea. Some of them might have been born in the wilderness, but the generation before them saw all the signs and wonders that God did in Egypt. And then they saw the massive sign when Moses led the people through the Red Sea because God parted the waters when there was no way. But this generation did not necessarily experience that firsthand. In chapter three, they're getting ready to cross into the promised land. And Joshua tells the Israelites, Listen, this is how you know that the living God is among you and that he will drive the people out before you. When we go into the promised land, it requires crossing the Jordan River. This is not some small stream. If you look up a picture of the Jordan River, it is absolutely massive. During any normal day, the region that they cross the Jordan in is normally about 90 to 100 feet wide. But the Bible tells us that they crossed in the spring when the river was at flood stage, overflowing its banks, which means it came to a width of 150 to 225 feet wide. That is a big river to cross. If you think about swimming across that, the current has to be massive. This river is huge. So Joshua is preparing the people, saying, when we cross over, the Levitical priests are going to go first, carrying the Ark of the Covenant. They will step foot into the river. And as they do, the waters on either side of them are going to be stopped. And we will cross the Jordan on dry ground. Just like when they entered into the wilderness with Moses leading them, they crossed the Red Sea on dry ground with the water stopped on either side of them. That is how you're going to know that God is with you. For a little more context here, if you're reading through chapter three and you're asking yourself, who are the Levitical priests? What is their role? And what is this Ark of the Covenant that they're about to carry into the river? Let's talk about that for a second. The Levitical priests were in charge of carrying, moving, and setting up any piece of the Lord's house, because in the wilderness, they didn't have a church or a building or a synagogue or a temple. It was a tent that they housed the Lord's presence in. God is omnipresent, so he doesn't need a house to reside in. He is everywhere, all at once, all the time, omnipresent. That means he cannot be confined by the walls of a church, the walls of a synagogue, the walls of a temple, the walls of a tent. But the instructions for this whole tabernacle, this whole tent in the wilderness, and everything that was going to be in it and where it was going to go and how it was going to be made, these instructions are very specific. The dimensions are specific, how it was to look, how it was to be placed, are all in the book of Exodus at Mount Sinai after the Israelites had come out of Egypt. God was giving them structure of here is where you come to worship me. Here is where you come into my presence. He was giving the Israelites orders for how to worship him, for how to set up his house, for how to keep him holy. Everything about this tabernacle and the things that were placed in it were holy. And the holiest of holy things within this tabernacle, within this tent, was the Ark of the Covenant. It was the physical manifestation of God's presence. It was to be in the tent, in the tabernacle with the Israelites everywhere they went. And God not only set up how they were to worship him, he also set up how they were to encamp around the tabernacle. There were specific formations of how they were to camp around the tabernacle in the wilderness. Every time they moved and they set up camp at a new spot, this is exactly where to go and exactly how to do it. He even selects one of the Israelite tribes out of the twelve to be in charge of all these tabernacle church duties. And it was the Levites. So the Levitical priests were the ones in charge of all the setup and teardown of this tabernacle. And that included the carrying of the Ark of the Covenant. We're actually going to read a couple verses from chapter three here, just so that we get the full picture. It says in verse 14, when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant went ahead of them. Now Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water's edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarathon, while the water flowing down to the Sea of Arabah, that is the Dead Sea, was completely cut off. In verse 17, the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed crossing on dry ground. Doing a quick Google search, the water backing up all the way to the town of Adam was about 16 miles upstream. It was not some little pushback of the water. It was 16 miles away so that the whole nation was able to cross the massive wide Jordan on dry ground. I mean, that is just miraculous in itself. This generation gets to walk through a parted body of water, just like their parents did coming out of Egypt, and they're walking into their next challenge. They're walking into their new season with the Lord with new challenges to come. And something really interesting happens here. In chapter four, it says, When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, right from where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight, on the other side of the Jordan. So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, What do these stones mean? Tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the Ark of the Covenant, his presence, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever. In verse 8, so the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took the twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the Lord had told Joshua, and they carried them over with them to their camp where they put them down. Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priest who carried the Ark of the Covenant had stood, and they are there to this day. This is so cool. They take the stones from the middle where there was dry ground, where God's presence was with them. And they knew He is with us, He is for us. And we are setting these stones, one for each tribe, as a memorial on the side that we successfully crossed over to. And Joshua says, for every generation to come who sees these stones, let it be a reminder to them that God is with them, God is for them, how God provided for them then. Pass down this story of how God made a way for you here and encourage your children that He is going to make a way for them now, that He is still with them today. It's such an incredible reminder to look back on all of the incredible things that God has done in and through our lives. When we begin to lose sight of him, sometimes we need to look back at where our stones are throughout our whole life. There's going to be different sets of stones, different moments, different seasons that God shows up and he provides for us, that he encourages us, that he gives us rest on every side, that he carries us through. And it's important to look back at these stones. Psalm 34 is David looking back at his stones. In Psalm 34, David writes, I will extol the Lord at all times. His praise will always be on my lips. I will glory in the Lord. Let the afflicted hear and rejoice. God, the Lord is with me. Let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord and He answered me. He delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant, their faces are never covered with shame. This poor man called. And the Lord heard him. He saved him out of all his troubles. In verse 8, he says, Taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. Fear the Lord, you holy people, for those who fear him lack nothing. The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. We are going to dive into David's story in another episode. But if you know anything about his history, yes, he was the Lord's anointed one. Yes, he became the king over Israel, but his road was not a smooth one. His road was not even a wide one. It was narrow and it was filled with so many challenges. The king before him, King Saul, tried to kill him three times. And he was on the run for years. But every time he faced adversity, every single time when he was facing the giant Goliath, every time he faced a challenge, he relied on the Lord. And in this psalm, he is looking back at those stones, at the time that the Lord carried him through. And he says, I know he's going to carry me through this. The lion is weak compared to me, who is rooted in the Lord. He delivered me from all my fears. Taste and see that the Lord is good. I will extol the Lord at all times. His praise will always be on my lips. He is reminding himself of the goodness of God, of the faithfulness of God. Our next psalm is Psalm 46. This was a psalm written to recite or to look back on when we are in times of trouble. In verse 1, it says, God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. These are difficult circumstances. The mountains falling into the sea, the earth giving way, the whole world crumbling around you. It says, God is our refuge and our strength. In verse 10, he says, Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in all the earth. The Lord Almighty is with us, the God of Jacob is our fortress. This psalm reminds us that when everything is falling apart around us, when nothing is going right, when the mountains are falling into the sea and the earth is giving way, God is our fortress. He is our refuge, he is our strength, and he is our ever-present help in times of trouble. And he commands us, saying that famous verse be still and know that I am God. He is in control always, and he is our refuge always. If our house is built on him, even though the storm and the winds and the waves come at us, we are firmly planted, firmly rooted on the rock. Psalm 103. This is David looking back at his stones again and commanding his soul to glorify the Lord. It says, Praise the Lord, my soul, all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagles. He's reminding himself, remember who the Lord is, remember what he's done. Sometimes we need that reminder. Sometimes we need to speak to our soul and say, Praise the Lord, my soul, because he deserves nothing but our praise. He is worthy of our praise. For some, these words can seem like just words on a page, like inspirational quotes. If you have not experienced living this out and experienced firsthand the goodness of God, if you have not experienced walking across on dry ground, these words can seem like inspirational quotes. When we face uncertainty, it's easy to say, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not fear, God is my fortress, but it's easier said than done because living it out is just more difficult. When we face uncertainty, it's easy to give the right answers. But these words are not inspirational quotes. These words are hard-fought, lived out testimonies. These words are God breathed. The apostles faced uncertainty. In fact, I think every character in the Bible faced uncertainty, adversity, and intense circumstances. We've talked a little bit about Paul and his life and the struggles that he has gone through. And there are so many books that he has written throughout the Bible to encourage followers of the Lord not just to stay strong, not just to say the right thing, but to truly rely on the Lord. In 2 Timothy verse 7, Paul writes, For the Spirit of God does not make us timid. It doesn't make us fearful, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline. There's a line from a pastor whose name is Bill Johnson, and what he said will always stick with me. He said that when we focus more on the problem that we face, allowing it to get bigger in our minds, we begin to react to that problem, often with anxiety, frustration, fear, insert blank. But when we do that, we're feeding our souls the problem, not the solution. The Lord doesn't ask us to pretend that he is greater or to give all the right answers. He commands us to be still and know that I am God, to become aware of his greatness, of his promises, of how much bigger he is than the problem that we're facing. One of the questions we can ask ourselves is how are we feeding our souls? Are we feeding our souls the problem or are we feeding our souls the solution? And what are we allowing to shape our hearts, our minds, our point of view? If we are amongst a friend group that is constantly negative, constantly pointing out all of the horrible things in this world, we're going to begin to notice that more. But if we're in a community of believers who is not turning a blind eye to what's going on in the world, but can encourage each other amongst all of the things happening. When the mountains are falling into the sea, when the earth is giving way, they know that it's happening, but they're encouraging one another to be still and know that he is God, to know that he is their fortress. It's not just friends that shape our hearts and minds. It's what we listen to, it's what we read, it's what we allow into our lives every single day. We get to personally know the God of the universe, the God of everything, the King of Kings. And my encouragement for all of us is to not simply say he is greater, but to commit our thinking to that, commit our souls to that daily, to step into the environment that the Lord invites us to every day, to look back at our stones, the times when God made a way, when there was very clearly no way. He is a wonderworking God. He is a loving, perfect Father. And my prayer for us this week is to keep our eyes fixed on the one who is leading us through the wilderness, to never lose sight of where he is, because he is always with us, for us, all around us, leading us in the way that we should go. Friends, you are not alone. And you do not have to have all the answers. Yes, there is work to be done. This is a partnership, this is a relationship with the Lord. The Israelites still had to walk their feet across the Jordan and they still had to engage in battle when they went into the promised land. But God was with them the whole time, making all of it possible. Let's continue to seek him daily and to speak to our souls when they need reminding that we are not alone and that God has provided for us this whole time. He has been with us this whole time. He has appointed this time for you specifically to be here. You are not here by chance. You are not randomly placed where you are. There is a purpose and a plan behind all of it. And God is just excited for you to trust him in stepping into everything that he has for you. I hope this message spoke to your heart like it spoke to mine this week. I encourage you sometime throughout this week to write down, to record those moments where God made a way, where he was working on your behalf in your midst. If you've been desiring deeper conversation with your small group, with your spouse, with your parents, with your kids, this is such a great story to share with them, to discuss, and then to share your stone memorials. However, you decide to discuss this, whether it's just you and God talking through it, you and your journal, you and your friends, you and your spouse, I know that it will be a blessing to you and to anyone who hears it. I hope you have a great week and I will be praying for you as always. God bless.