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Jordan presents an opportunity for spiritual

      growth and development.

      Paul’s first observation may come off as shocking to those who are going through the awful grind of their Jordan situations. He summarizes these as momentary and light. “Are you kidding me, Paul?” I can hear some of you saying to yourselves. But Paul is not kidding at all. He calls your situations and mine short-lived and light when compared to what they produce in and for us, as those relate to our eternal future existence. The veteran soldier of the cross of Christ also speaks to the matter of our focus. He appears to be saying that focus is everything whenever the believer is confronted with a Jordan experience. He says that the things that we see or perceive are temporary or changeable; but the things that we do not see or perceive are eternal.

      What are those things that we do not see? Those are the things that pertain to the realm of faith—not only in God, but also in the promises found in His infallible Word. It is woefully difficult to focus on the problems associated with your Jordan and on the promises of God at the same time. Moreover, your breakthroughs do not come from looking at the Jordan, but on focusing on, and listening to, the God who allowed you to come to that never-before crossing. It is very important to understand that nothing just happens to any child of God, even if you did not start it.

      Every Jordan has a way through it before it begins to flow

      your way. That’s heaven’s guarantee!

      Be assured that your heavenly Father is in the midst of your seemingly insurmountable situation, working out EVERYTHING for your good (Romans 8:28). He says: ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.’ (Jeremiah 29:11). The Word of God also promises that:

      No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.

      1 Corinthian 10:13

      There is absolutely no situation so trying that confronts you, of which God is not fully aware. The Bible makes it quite clear that Jordan-crossing experiences are not only the common lot of all humankind, but that God faithfully watches over all. He will not allow you to be tested beyond your ability to bear your trials, even though this appears inconceivable when you are going through your situations.

      How often have you emerged on the other side of an ordeal you thought you would have never been able to handle, or even able to survive? Every Jordan has a way through it before it begins to flow your way. That’s heaven’s guarantee! With every temptation or trial, God has an ordained way of escape so that you would be able to bear and go through it. You have the unfailing assurance that if God has brought you to your Jordan, He is certainly able to take you through its raging waters triumphantly.

      You have a secured destiny

      “. . . cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel.”

      Joshua 1:2

      In His instructions to Joshua, God commissioned the newly-appointed leader to take His people across the Jordan to the land that He had given them. Two things are immediately clear from the above text—namely, (1) Joshua was not going to cross the Jordan alone, and (2) God had already prepared a place for him and the people. These two very important details in this remarkable experience are uniquely instructive for you as you position yourself for success against your personal Jordan.

      First of all, you must know and believe that crossing your Jordan is never about you and you alone. God has predetermined that your future success is tied to the destiny of others. His blessings are never in isolation of those around you. He never blesses you for yourselves alone. Whenever you cross your Jordan, you will be a blessing to many others on both sides of the crossing experience—those that are on the side of Moab (trial) waiting to get over, and those on the side of Canaan (destiny), who have already made it over.

      Second, as a potential Jordan-crosser, you must also know and believe that God has a future designed especially for you. He will most certainly bring you to it if you will only trust His wisdom and leadership instead of yours. You must have the abiding confidence that whatever is yours by divine design can never be taken away from you. No one, but yourself, can deter you from the future that God has established for you.

      When you begin to believe and live by this truth, you will find your sense of peace and release from the harassment of your chaotic, wandering mind. It is only then you will begin to be aware of the divine presence, filling you with a feeling of hope and assurance. At that very moment of faith, you will be transported to a position of strength, where your mind will be more open to receive new insights and/or revelations from God. It is here that you will discover that there must be a clear path for you to negotiate your way right through your Jordan.

      You may not know the way ahead, and the truth is you do not have to know the way. God, who has brought you to your Jordan, is the Way. He will take you through. When Job, the indomitable patriarch, was going through his Jordan, he left us these encouraging words:

      ⁹When He acts on the left, I cannot behold Him; He turns on the right, I cannot see Him. ¹⁰But He knows the way I take; When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold. ¹¹My foot has held fast to His path; I have kept His way and not turned aside. ¹²I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food. ¹³But He is unique and who can turn Him? And what His soul desires, that He does. ¹⁴For He performs what is appointed for me . . .

      Job 23:9-14

      What this Jordan-crossing stalwart is saying in verses 9 and 10 above is that although he cannot fathom the ways and moving (left and right) of the Almighty, he rests in the fact that God knows the way he (Job) is appointed to travel. He will bring him through on the other side of his Jordan like refined gold. Because of this abiding confidence, Job was steadfast in pursuing the following course of action: (1) He never strayed from the path of righteousness, nor did he turn aside from the ways of God. (2) He did not deviate from the commands of God’s Word, but treasured them more than his necessary food.

      1. You will never cross your Jordan alone.

      2. God has a future especially designed for you.

      What a sterling example for all potential Jordan- crossers! In verses 13 and 14, Job gives us his experiential understanding of the Almighty, and these pointers we must never forget. (1) God is unique and we cannot bribe Him with our empty promises, or turn Him around from His purpose with our bitter crying. (2) Whatever God desires, He will do, regardless of how we feel about it, or of what we think about Him for doing or allowing it (Psalm 135:6). I know that this is a very hard one for many of us to deal with, but God’s thoughts are not like ours, and our ways are absolutely not like His (Isaiah 55:8). (3) God will perform to the letter whatever His wise judgment has appointed for you and me.

      Job’s secret was that he surrendered himself completely to the will and the plan of God. He was determined to follow through on this commitment even if it meant losing his very life in the process. He declared with confidence, “though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him” (Job 13:15). This humble Jordan-crosser positioned himself for success and certainly reaped his reward on the other side of his harrowing experience. What does the Bible testify of him?

      ¹⁰The LORD restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the LORD increased all that Job had twofold . . . ¹²The LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; and he had 14,000 sheep and 6,000 camels and 1,000 yoke of oxen and 1,000 female donkeys. ¹³He had seven sons and three daughters . . . ¹⁶After this, Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons and his grandsons, four generations.

      Job 42:10-16

      My fellow Jordan-crosser, God is waiting to do new things in you and for you. He declares

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