Don't Get Ahead of God – Joshua 3:2 - 4

2 After three days, leaders went through the camp 

3 and gave out orders to the people: "When you see the Covenant-Chest of God, your God, carried by the Levitical priests, start moving. Follow it. 

4 Make sure you keep a proper distance between you and it, about half a mile - be sure now to keep your distance! - and you'll see clearly the route to take. You've never been on this road before."

– Joshua 3:2 - 4

Don't Get Ahead of God

Are you a go-getter or a follow behinder?  As Christians we are called to be both, but if you're like me, most of the time, the go-getter in me gets going too fast and before I know it, I've gone too far and then I need to go back.  Huh?  Confusing right?  Exactly!

We can't get ahead of God, even when we know He's called us to do something.  His directives and His movements are ALWAYS in front of us and we have to learn not to get ahead of God, or confusion, and disorganization, and disharmony will result, and the ministry we were so gung-ho to do God's work for, will need to be started all over again.  We will have wasted valuable time – God time – just because we were too proud and ambitious to wait for God to lay out the path before us.

Most of the big things God calls us to are things we've never done before; things that are too big for us; things that are beyond our current scope of experience, so it's vital that when we get that clear direction from God, instead of charging full-spead ahead, we should stop.  Even when God says "Go!"  We still need to stop, not for long, but just long enough to pray and meditate on who God is, and what His ultimate will is.  Just long enough to get our own ideas of what God wants out of our heads.  Long enough to let the Holy Spirit rise up in our hearts.  We need to stop just long enough to let God get in front of the ministry so that we can follow Him and in turn, lead the people behind us so that God's plan is fulfilled.

Do you feel God calling you to do something?  That's good, in fact, it's very good.  But before you start running into the unknown, STOP!  Press into God more than you've ever pressed into HIm.  He will honor your time.  He will love your devotion, and your willingness to let Him take the lead.  He will bless your efforts, and when all is said and done, He will be Glorified.  Your ministry will thrive and you will see miracles happen that are beyond your ability to dream.  God will do a work so big, and you will feel so small because of His greatness, but your faith will grow so BIG because you'll know that God did things you could never do on your own . . . all because you kept your proper distance, and let God lead the way.

Prayer

Father, may You always be in front of everything we do.  Help us and remind us to stay behind You and to keep our eyes and hearts clearly focussed on Your leading.  Forgive us for in our eagerness to serve, getting ahead of You sometimes.  Take us down the roads we've never been before and help us to stay on Your clearly marked path.

Have a blessed day everyone!

– Richard