Wet Feet

12 Mar

Susan Merritt, PhD Christian Living, Weekly Devotional 0

“Feet Wet” is a term I have heard in movies and TV programs involving military flight. It is a short way of saying, “We are no longer flying over land, but we are now flying over water.” We also have a “wet feet” idiomatic expression in the English language that refers to being afraid to do something. In Christianity, however, there is an Old Testament benchmark for wet feet that involves faith.

Joshua 3:7-8 and 10 describes God’s directions regarding the crossing of the Jordan River into the Promised Land, a crossing that fulfilled God’s promises reiterated throughout the 40-year trek of Israel in the wilderness:

“And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee. And thou shalt command the priests that bear the Ark of the Covenant, saying, ‘When ye are come to the brink of the water of Jordan, ye shall stand still in Jordan’… And Joshua said, ‘Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the [inhabitants of the land].’”

In the crossing of the Jordan River, God was going to do a miracle for two reasons: to establish Joshua as the new leader and spokesperson for God to replace Moses in the final push into the Promised Land and to establish a deeper national faith in God as the Hebrews approached an extensive territorial conquest. This is not the first time the Children of Israel had seen water stopped so that they could cross over on dry land. Coming out of Egypt, they had crossed the Red Sea on dry ground after Moses lifted his hands and his walking stick over the water at God’s direction (Exodus 14:10-31). Forty years later, all who witnessed that crossing were dead except for Joshua and Caleb. This new generation needed to see with their own eyes what God had shown their forefathers on the banks of the Red Sea: “And Israel saw that great work which the LORD did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD, and His servant Moses” (Ex. 14:31)

But the miracle, like the faith-based act of obedience on the shores of the Red Sea, required an act of faith on the part of the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant. They had to get their feet wet first before God stopped the water:

“And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents to pass over Jordan, the priests bare the Ark of the Covenant before the people. And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overflows all his banks all the time of harvest), that the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon a heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan, and those [waters] that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed and were cut off. And the people passed over right against Jericho. The priests that bare the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground until all the people were passed clean over Jordan” (Joshua 3:14-17).

Hebrews 11 cites the acts of faith from many people in the Old Testament, including the Red Sea crossing, and each person written about demonstrated their faith by obedient action of some kind. Hebrews 11:6 sums up the chapter with “But without faith it is impossible to please Him for he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” James 2:21-23 sheds more light on faith, particularly that of Abraham: “Was not Abraham, our father, justified by works when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which says, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness and he was called the Friend of God.”

James describes faith that is visible in God-instigated and God-enabled action: “Even so faith, if it has not works, is dead being alone…A man may say, ‘You have faith and I have works. Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works’” (James 2:17-18). While the passage speaks specifically in terms of caring for the needs of the needy, there has to be an initial step forward in taking any action in response to God’s direction in our lives. Just like the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant, doing their God-ordained job, we are called to get our feet wet and then God is able to use us in amazing and miraculous ways in the lives of others. But we are required to take that first step of faith in order for that to happen.

1 Corinthians 15:58 comes to mind again (I say that because I used it to end the devotional from last week): “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” Our part is to stand firm, not let anything move us, step out in faith when God calls us to action even when it appears we are stepping into a flood, and do God’s work because that is the one thing that will not change or go away. God’s part is to take care of everything else, including opening the way and stopping the flood.