Rainy Season.

"The waters are troubled."

Pastor Sam made this statement as he began his pastoral prayer last Sunday (after Pastor Martha's sermon). It is a metaphor that is sometimes misunderstood. But this past Sunday, I believe we all knew what our pastor meant. We are in a season where our Lord is visiting Bronx Bethany with a specific, intensified opportunity for healing and deliverance.

What timing. I am especially conscious of my need for physical healing, as I continue recovery from a fall I had ten days ago. And I am also particularly conscious of the need for friends and loved ones to be delivered, some of whom are "running, a hundred miles an hour, in the wrong direction" (a line from Casting Crown's "Does Anybody Hear Her?"). In both cases, physically and spiritually, I see the needs. But I am in no position to chase anyone down, literally nor figuratively. I can only appeal to our Lord and King, Jesus.

While the more obvious passage to discuss here would be the healing of the man at the Bethesda pool (see John 5:1-15), I have instead been drawn to Joshua chapter 3. In that chapter, we have the account of the people of Israel crossing the Jordan River at flood stage. To be more specific, we have the account of the priests carrying the ark and placing their feet into the water. It is so significant that the Jordan did not part until the priests' feet touched the water's edge (see Joshua 3:15-16). The priests were not in a position to roll back the water by their own strength. They had to trust God that when their feet went in, they would not be dragged off by the current.

So, figuratively speaking, our pastors have put their feet into the current and God has opened a passageway. We are called to cross over! Cross over into healing. Cross over into peace. Cross over into deliverance. Cross over into rest. And, cross over while there is time. Kairos moments are fleeting moments. Seasons don't last forever. When the waters are troubled, when a Divine passageway has opened, don't wait. Abandon all decorum and rush in.

How do we rush in? With repentance, obedience, prayer, fasting, giving, devotion, humility, intense love for our Lord... or, to boil this down to one phrase, authentic worship. We as a kingdom of priests carry the ark of God on our shoulders, cautiously bearing the weight of His glory as we watch Him do what we thought was impossible.

The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground... He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God. (Joshua 3:17 and 4:24)

Amen. May we all complete the crossing.