By Ife J. Ibitayo
There are rumblings of a new outbreak in China. Trump has just announced his bid for reelection. And the Golden State Warriors are on the verge of missing another playoffs. Nope, the year is not 2020 but 2022.
It’s been two long years since the COVID-19 pandemic swept the world, yet in some ways, it feels like we’re right back where we started. In C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters, the demon Screwtape speaks of humanity in this way: “to be in time means to change. [Humanity’s] nearest approach to constancy, therefore, is undulation-the repeated return to a level from which they repeatedly fall back, a series of troughs and peaks.”
Even in my own life I’ve noticed this pattern. Back in 2020, I’d just started a new job, moved to a new city, and started a new phase of life. And now in 2022, I’m doing the same. Many of us may be experiencing a similar sense of déjà vu as we approach the end of this year. Our 2023 New Year Resolutions might look a lot like 2022’s. Our new job might be starting to feel a lot like our old one. We’ve spent 364 long days trudging around this mountain just to find ourselves back at square one.
Background
The Israelites experienced a similar situation thousands of years ago. After God rescued them from the clutches of Pharaoh, they traveled to the very edge of the Promised Land. The milk and honey of this paradise was practically dripping on their tongues. But in the space of a few short weeks, they suffered their first military defeat and began a forty-year detour through the harrowing wilderness (Numbers 14).
A new generation of Israelites with a new leader named Joshua arose at the end of that era. As the Lord’s people again stood poised on the edge of the Promised Land, they faced one small problem: how to get a million people across the raging Jordan River.
Keep Your Distance
Firstly, Joshua commanded the Israelites, “‘When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God being carried by the Levitical priests, you are to set out from your positions and follow it. But keep a distance of about two thousand cubits between yourselves and the ark. Do not go near it, so that you can see the way to go, since you have never traveled this way before’” (Joshua 3:3-4). The ark was a special chest representing the presence of the Lord amongst His people. And the Levitical priests were the special people ordained to carry it. So, the priests carrying the ark ahead of the people was a visible representation of the Lord going before them.
However, just like the Israelites back then, we may be tempted to rush ahead of God into this new year. As we shake off the dregs of winter break, we may be horrified by the mountain of work that has quietly accumulated for this coming January. But we must remember that God is our guide. Since He exists outside of time, He knows what lies ahead, and if we are humble enough to follow His lead, He’ll navigate us across our raging rivers safely.
Consecrate Yourself
Secondly, Joshua commanded the Israelites, “‘Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you’” (Joshua 3:8). Consecration is to make ready for the Lord. In the Old Testament, the Israelites had dozens of rules about consecration from avoiding certain foods to abstaining from sex. But the main thrust of these regulations was not about their external bodies but their inside man. They were meant to prepare their hearts for an encounter with God.
But when we find ourselves facing familiar problems with our health, our loved ones, or our job, we may want to dial down our expectations going into this new year. But as the author of Hebrews says, “Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1). We don’t want to miss God when He passes by; we want to wait expectantly on Him.
Mark the Watershed Moments
Lastly, after Joshua and the rest of the Israelites had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord commanded them to take twelve large rocks out of the river and set them up as a memorial (Joshua 4). Grammarist defines a watershed moment as “a turning point…from which things will never be the same. It is considered momentous, though a watershed moment is often recognized in hindsight.” It’s essential to remember where we’ve been so we don’t end up back where we were. We must live our lives marking our watershed moments so that when we face our next raging river, we can confidently expect God to part it again.
Conclusion
If we follow God’s lead with a heart filled with hope, we may just see Him work wonders for us in 2023. The end of 2022 may look a lot like the beginning of 2020, but I assure you, we’ve never been this way before.
“For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”
(Isaiah 43:19)