God’s New Way

“A New Way” On June 15, 2022, during my morning quiet time, I was reading Joshua 4, where God commands Joshua and the High Priests to carry the Ark of the Covenant into the middle of the swollen and overflowing Jordan River and stand still. Joshua obeys the Lord, and the river ceases its flow while the Israelites cross into the promised land. Once all the Israelites have crossed over, God tells Joshua that one member of each of the twelve tribes should carry a stone from the river to their home. At this point, I wrote in the margin of my Bible, another example of God asking for obedience without our necessarily understanding. Yet, as always, Joshua obeys, and God reveals that he wants the stones to be reminders of the miracle of the Jordan crossing for the generations of Israelites to come. In his commentary, Charles Stanley, late pastor of First Baptist Church, Atlanta and author, calls these stones, “memorial stones”, and then he asks readers to make a list of their “memorial stones”. I listed some of my “memorial stones”. I remembered when in 1981, I was involved in a sinful and harmful relationship, and I asked God to work it out as He willed. I opened the door just a crack for God and He used that small opening to change my world. In a few short months, He moved me to Abilene, and He surrounded me with strong and convicted Christ followers. And in 1983 I lost my fiancé, and He worked in supernatural ways to prepare me for Chris’ death, and to comfort and heal me following it. And then, in 1991, Marion Castleberry called me for a date and the most beautiful relationship I have ever had on earth began. Those are a few, but there are so many more where God has worked in my life to renew and restore. He is faithful. While dwelling on the memories of God’s work in my life, I felt a warmth come over me and the Holy Spirit clearly whispered to me, “I am making a new way.” It was amazing because I knew it was a promise. It seemed so awesome and promising, but I remember that it was also bittersweet. I felt a sadness I didn’t understand, and I wrote in my prayer journal, “Lord, why am I feeling so happy and so sad at the same time?” I wouldn’t understand that feeling for a while, but now, I believe it, too, was God cautioning me about what was going to happen. This “quiet time” happened only ten days before my husband, Marion died.