This is one of my favorite stories from the Old Testament. The people of God had been wandering in the wilderness for forty years and now they were finally ready to enter into the Promised Land- what we now call Israel. But there was one obstacle in their way- the Jordan River, which happened to be overflowing and deep at the time. There were no bridges, and you’d need like 300 ocean liners to get everybody across, so what did they do? Well Joshua told the priests to pick up the Ark of His Presence and walk before the people into the water. And what happened next was amazing! Slow in coming, but amazing! Check out this quick video to see what went on:
Here are some questions you can talk about after you watch the video lesson:
- Why do you think it’s so hard to wait for things? What are some things in your life you’ve had to wait for? A trip? Your birthday? Christmas? Name some other times you needed to wait for something good to happen.
- What do you think the people were feeling when they saw the priests carrying the Ark into the Jordan River? What do you think the priests were feeling?
- Even though God stopped up the river at the exact moment the priests stepped into the water, it was twenty miles upstream in Adam! So, it took a long time for the people to see that God was answering their prayer. Sometimes when God is doing something important in our lives, we don’t see it right away. What should we do while we’re waiting?
- God opened up the Jordan River just like he’d done 40 years before at the Red Sea. If you aren’t familiar with that story, check it out in Exodus 14. God created the whole world so a sea or a river is no big deal to Him. He can do anything! Look at Luke 1:37.
- Why do you suppose God makes us wait for things?
- The truth of the matter is that God loves you more than you can imagine and sometimes He makes us wait because He wants us to know and trust Him more and more while we wait.
