God Is Working Upstream
Moses led God’s children for forty years. Due to their unbelief those who were 20 years of age and older when the Israelites left Egypt were not allowed to go into the promised land. Moses and this group with the exception of Joshua and Caleb had died in the wilderness. Joshua had now been placed in the role of leader by the Lord. Joshua was ready to take God’s people into the land the Lord had promised to them. They were nearing the river that separated them from the promised land. In Joshua 3: 9-13 they are given their instructions. “As soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord - the Lord of all the earth - set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap.” They couldn’t see the things God was doing for them but they could be assured that God was working upstream.
How often we have wanted God to work upstream for us. Truthfully we forget that God has done so much for us already. When Jesus died on the cross it was in reality God working upstream for us. We may not have seen Jesus die but he died nonetheless. In the death that the Messiah suffered, He allowed us an opportunity to reestablish fellowship with the Father. It was God working out of sight, paying a price we could not pay. In the past God has done much for us that was out of our line of sight.
Our God is big enough to continue working in our lives today. He is interested in us on an “individual” basis. God has a purpose in our lives and intends that we accomplish that purpose. In John 9:1-3 the man born blind was born in that condition so that the works of God might be made manifest through him. How marvelous to know that God was glorified as a result of something we were able to do!
It is imperative for us to understand that God is still an active God. He hasn’t given us Scripture and said, “Do your best.” He is a God who is still working behind the scenes for each of us. Find your place in His will and walk in it because He is still working upstream in our lives!
