The Purposeful Pause

Many times in a Christian’s life, or in the life of a local church, when a season of breakthrough and victory is taking place, we really want to harness the momentum and keep moving forward rapidly. Who wants to slow down when things are going so well? Well, the answer to that question is that sometimes God wants to slow down when we have had the wind at our back and things are progressing nicely. Israel had crossed the Jordan via faith and a miracle from God. Now in the land of their inheritance, a long season of intense warfare was soon to begin. Rather than rushing forward from the miraculous crossing of the Jordan River, God made the entire nation stop, get painfully, radically consecrated, heal up, and then move toward their first taking of a city in Canaan. This chapter in Joshua calls us to acknowledge and to honor the principle that God is far more concerned with His people moving forward rightly than moving forward rapidly.