In the Bible, there are a lot of
miracles recorded, and many of them happened very quickly. Things like the
parting of the Red sea, Naaman’s healing, Lazarus rising from the dead, water
coming from the rock, the woman touching Jesus’ coat and being healed, Jairus’
daughter, demons being cast out, and Jesus’ ascension. I could go on! What I
mean is that all of these miracles happened instantly at God’s command, and
these miracles tend to be our favourites. That’s why we can find it frustrating
when the miracle we are praying for is taking so long. But don’t worry, God
doesn’t always do things instantly, he sometimes decides to do it slowly.
In
Joshua 3, the Bible tells us the amazing story of all the Israelites crossing
the river Jordan. This was in the flood season, so the river would likely have
been about a mile wide and 150ft deep! You don’t just wade across a river like
that. Now, Joshua’s instructions from God were to have the priests carrying the
Ark of the Covenant stand in the river, and it would stop flowing. The
Israelites must have been watching and waiting; expecting to see the river just
part, like the crossing of the Red sea. But this time, that was not what God
had planned. Instead, a long way upstream, the river stopped flowing, and after
a couple of hours, the river went down a few feet. Then another few, and so on
until the river was dry and crossable.
Miracles don’t have to happen instantly!
If you want another miracle like this, remember that the great flood didn’t
happen overnight, Noah and his family would have been on that boat for about a
year.
Moral of the story? Sometimes we just
have to be patient and wait for God to complete what he’s already started; he
knows what he’s doing!