Eagle Brook Church

Everyone of us goes through transitions in life. Some of those transitions leave us anxious, stressed, and scared. In this message we’ll learn that if you want to take new territory in life, you have to be strong and courageous in Christ.

Have you ever thought that you couldn’t recover from a bad choice, failure, or setback? The redemptive story of the Bible is that Christ offers the chance to start over to everyone. But it takes a choice; a courageous choice that’s available to every human being.

If you’re a Christ follower, God will lead you to major river crossings during your life that will scare you. And they will be impossible to cross unless God shows up and does a miracle. Miracles never happen on the bank, they always happen in the river.

Joshua and the Israelites have just crossed over the Jordan River into the Promised Land—the land God had promised they would eventually settle in and become a nation. The first city that needed to be conquered was Jericho, and it was surrounded by a tall, thick, reinforced wall. The wall is what separated Joshua from his goal. In the same way, we all may face a wall of our own, and our walls separate us from our desired future—like a better marriage, quality friendships, or a healthy lifestyle.

Joshua and the Israelites have crossed into the Promised Land and have conquered the first city, Jericho. God performed another miracle by causing the walls around the city to fall. The next city to take is Ai, but this time God’s people are defeated. Joshua knows God is no longer with them, but why? One man named Achan took some of the plunder when God instructed them not to. Achan’s one small sin had the potential to derail what God had planned for his people. In the same way, our small, and seemingly harmless, mistakes have the potential to derail what God wants to do in us.

Is there an area of your life that feels impossible? If the size of your need seems too big for you, it’s just the right size for God. If you are in a situation where you’re saying, “The only way this can happen is for God to do it,” you are in God’s wheelhouse. God still makes the sun stand still. He still does the impossible in people’s lives.

Some people wonder why God doesn’t bless them with good relationships, a great family and amazing opportunities, and they’re waiting for God to act. Often, God is waiting for them to put a stake in the ground and start living in obedience to him. Obedience is the trigger that releases God’s blessings.