The Old and New NormalSample

Stones, Testimonies, and the New Land

In the future when your descendants ask their parents in time to come, “What do these stones mean?” tell them, “Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.” JOSHUA 4:21–22, NIV

Have you ever had something happen that was so earth-shattering you thought you would never make it through? There’s nothing like a near-death experience to give your life a new purpose. Maybe your career went down in flames, your marriage imploded, or your future dead-ended, but somehow you made it through. Can you remember making it through something you thought you’d never make it through? Has God ever brought you through something you thought you would never survive? Crossing over is no small thing. It takes every ounce of spiritual and emotional energy you have.

So what do you do now? It’s tempting to lie down in the middle of this lush green field in the land of Canaan and take a thirty-six-hour nap. You wonder, with as much buildup as there has been toward crossing over, isn’t it time now to forget about the past, let bygones be bygones, and just get on with your life? Isn’t it time to get on to the next adventure or challenge and fully explore this new land? On the other side of the Jordan, everything feels new—most of all, you. Isn’t it time to finally cut the umbilical cord to the past altogether, forget about all this ancient history, and let yourself be someone entirely new? Isn’t that what this new land demands of you? Surely the entire nation of Israel was feeling this swirl of new emotions and ready to move into whatever was next. And yet this is where we see Joshua at his most mature as a leader. Fighting against the pull to slough off the old and get on with the new, he immediately turned everyone’s attention to marking the moment. “Select twelve men from the people, one from each tribe, and command them, ‘Take twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet stood, carry them over with you, and lay them down in the place where you camp tonight’” (Josh. 4:2–3, NRSV). Did you read that? Tonight. There was an urgency, an immediacy, a necessity to it. Joshua understood that marking what God has done in the past isn’t only about how history will be told but also how the future will be lived.

Testimonies alter the entire timeline of our stories. They allow us to revisit the past in a way that helps us discern our present and makes a new future possible. If we want to experience the victory of God in our present and future, we have to revisit the work of God in our past. Nothing about our lives is random or episodic. It’s all connected, even when we cannot or do not easily make those connections. 

Verse to dwell on: 

They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.—REVELATION 12: 11

Scriptures: 

Joshua 4:2-3

Joshua 4:21-22

Revelation 12:11