Impact - Day 9

Day 9 – Footprint

Joshua 1:3 “I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses.”

Have you ever felt like your prayers go unanswered and you are stuck in some difficult situation? Your struggles drag on for years, and the paralyzation seems endless. Still, as people of faith, we pray, even when it feels hopeless. But only some survive the sense of silence.

We all have friends who didn’t emerge whole and healthy from this experience. Many walk away from a relationship with God because of “unanswered prayers.” So, there is something important to be gained as we consider the experience of God’s people towards the end of their wilderness wanderings.

The Israelites have circled the desert for forty years by now. Surely, many have prayed to come unstuck from this nomadic experience. So, as God coronates His newest leader, He does so with one part promise and one part challenge, “I will give you every place you set your foot.”

Take a moment and visualize the fulfillment of these words. God has given a gift, but it will be forever unclaimed until Joshua moves his foot. Incidentally, this echoes the same assurance God gave Moses regarding the Promised Land in Deuteronomy 11. This is no new posture. This is how God works. He provides something miraculous but leaves us one little move of our foot. He did this on the cross with the gift of salvation. He creates the miracle, provides the gift, paves the way, but leaves the footstep to our freedom of choice. This act of faith is up to you and me.

I wonder what God thinks when I sit on my couch waiting for a miracle He has already provided. Do you suppose He wants to rattle the walls and roll with thunder as I ask today for what He did for me yesterday? It must be like a parent who lovingly wraps a gift their child has requested only to have that boy or girl refuse to open it out of frustration that they haven’t gotten the item yet.

So, today, set your foot. Lay claim to the gift of salvation already bought and paid for. Participate in the miracle of community through which God intends to bring healing to our communities. Act in faith, step into leadership, offer to serve, set your foot in the squishy mud of God’s cause and make an impact. 

1. What is a gift you wanted for a long time? How did you feel when you received it or when you never did?
2. What is something you have prayed for over a long period of time? Is there a way you sense God inviting you to participate in the fulfillment of that prayer? What is it?
3. Where do you stand with Jesus today? Have you asked for forgiveness and told Him you accept His gift of salvation?