God had a plan and the plan was this; "When the feet of the priests enter Jordan, I am going to part the waters and lead you through on the dry ground!" There was a catch to this plan and it was that the waters would not part until the Levite priests who were carrying the Ark stepped into the water. In other words, it took a step of faith!  The people obediently followed the Lord and saw a miracle come to pass. What a lesson for you and me. Too often, we want the Lord to fix everything in our lives for us. We don't want to have to make any decisions nor do we want to have to exercise our faith in Him. We just want Him to do it and that will be the end of it. However, most of the time, God will require us to take steps of faith in order that we might see our Jordan parted. God had a plan, but for this plan to work, it required faith on the part of His people! The same is true for you and me! As long as we are trying to solve our own problems we are not walking in faith. It is when we turn loose of the reigns of the problem, step away from it and let the Lord have it that we will see it taken care of for His glory. It never is about what we can do, it is always about what the Lord is able to do. Ephesians 3:20 20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,  (New International Version) In Joshua 3:16-17 there was a performance of a miracle. When the priests stepped into that raging river, it parted and God opened a path of dry ground through the waters for His people. Joshua 3:16-17 16the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. 17The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground. (New International Version) By the way, verse 16 says that the waters backed up to the City of Adam. This is some 20 miles north of where the children of Israel were crossing. God made them a path through the water that was more than adequate for His people to get through. Our God is a God of "more than enough." We need to remember that faith honors God and God honors faith! When He does it, it won't just be patched up and ready to fall apart again, it will be done right and it will be done forever. I want to encourage you by reminding you that this God who did this great thing for Israel is still the same God we are serving today! What He did then, He can do now. He was ABLE all the way through the Bible, and He is still ABLE today! Regardless of the circumstances, He is still God and He still can do miracles! We find the question that plagued the Jews in Psalms 78:19, Psalms 78:19 19They spoke against God, saying, "Can God spread a table in the desert? (New International Version) "Why can't He give us decent food, as well as water." God can! Just ask, Noah, Moses, Daniel, the 3 Hebrews, a widow down in Zarephath, the Disciples on a little ship, and Saul of Tarsus. Just look back over your own life. How many times has the Lord opened your Jordan already? He is all we need! He is still the same miracle working God that He always has been. Learn to expect miracles when you are dealing with God!  So what are we to understand from all of this? 1. First we need to examine a message. 2. We need to expect a miracle. 3. We need to erect a memorial. Joshua 4  1When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, 2"Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, 3and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan from right where the priests stood and to carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight."  4So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, 5and said to them, "Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, 6to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean?' 7tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever."  8So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the LORD had told Joshua; and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down. 9Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there to this day.  10Now the priests who carried the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything the LORD had commanded Joshua was done by the people, just as Moses had directed Joshua. The people hurried over, 11and as soon as all of them had crossed, the ark of the LORD and the priests came to the other side while the people watched. 12The men of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over, armed, in front of the Israelites, as Moses had directed them. 13About forty thousand armed for battle crossed over before the LORD to the plains of Jericho for war.  14That day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they revered him all the days of his life, just as they had revered Moses.  15Then the LORD said to Joshua, 16"Command the priests carrying the ark of the Testimony to come up out of the Jordan."  17So Joshua commanded the priests, "Come up out of the Jordan."  18And the priests came up out of the river carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD. No sooner had they set their feet on the dry ground than the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and ran at flood stage as before.  19On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho. 20And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan. 21He said to the Israelites, "In the future when your descendants ask their fathers, 'What do these stones mean?' 22tell them, 'Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.' 23For the LORD your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The LORD your God did to the Jordan just what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. 24He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God." (New International Version) When the last person had passed over Jordan, Joshua commanded that one man from each of the 12 tribes, get a rock from the midst of Jordan and build a memorial on the Canaan side. That memorial is worth our spending some time on. Look at verses 6-7: 6to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean?' 7tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever." And verses 21-24: 21He said to the Israelites, "In the future when your descendants ask their fathers, 'What do these stones mean?' 22tell them, 'Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.' 23For the LORD your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The LORD your God did to the Jordan just what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. 24He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God." These verses tell us that the purpose of the memorial was to remind successive generations of the power and faithfulness of God on behalf of His people. That memorial would be an important landmark to those who would come along in later times. By the same token, we need some memorials in our own lives as well. However, we must use caution in doing this. We do not want to focus on the past so much that by doing so we will cripple the future. Many churches have done that and are suffering as a result. What we do want to do, however, is remember the things that the Lord has done for us so that we can tell others about them and so that when we come that way again, we will remember that the Lord was faithful in that day and that He will be faithful in this day as well. Never forget what the Lord has done for you in your past. It is those past experiences that will tide you over when the Jordans of today and tomorrow arise in your life! It is interesting to notice that Joshua constructed 2 monuments. One was on the bank and one was built in the river. These 2 memorials served 2 different purposes. Notice what they were. Look again at Joshua 4:9: 9Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there to this day. And verse 20: 20And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan. 1. The monument on the bank of the Jordan was a picture of the faithfulness of God. It stood as a testimony to the faithfulness of God, as I have just mentioned. It was there to remind others of what the Lord had done and of what He could do. Again, we need to remember the faithfulness of God in the past. It will help us cross the Jordans we face today. 2. What about the rock pile in the river? No one could see it but God! It stood as a monument to the faith of the people! (verse 9) You see, when you face a time of trial, others are often guilty of misjudging your motives and actions, however, only God knows the truth about your heart. Even though Israel couldn't see it, they knew the monument was there! They remembered that they had believed God then and it had worked. This was a monument in their hearts. We need that same kind of monument as well. Too often others misjudge us in our times of trial, but God alone knows your heart. When you have trusted Him and He has brought you through, never forget it! Build that monument in your heart, where only God can see it, and where you will never forget it. When the tough times come again, and they will, look at that monument of His faithfulness and of your faith and know that what worked before will work again. God will bring you through your Jordan! I want you to know that no matter what the circumstances are in your life, you can cross over. I invite you to come before the Lord right now. Tell Him about the Jordan you are facing and allow Him to get you past it today. There is a place of victory where you can shout in spite of your troubles. The first step in getting there is dealing with what is keeping you away. It may be sin, it may be some person, it may be some trial, but whatever it is, God is greater than it is. Come and let Him take care of it for you.