Allentown

My heart was in my throat, and it was choking me because it was pounding so hard. I had just climbed a seven-story spiral ramp and there I stood at the top of the highest water slide in the world. They called it the Kamikaze.

All the way up the ramp, there were ominous signs warning people suffering from heart conditions, nervous disorders, fear of heights, back problems, stomach ulcers, dizziness, pregnancy, and other medical conditions not to go down the slide.

Children under a certain height were absolutely forbidden. I noticed with alarm that the lifeguard at the top of the slide had a direct hotline telephone to 911.

So there I stood, shaking and uncertain, at the top. I glanced around. The view was spectacular from way up there. You could see the whole city of Orlando, Florida. But this was no time for sightseeing.

At my feet lay a slick narrow strip of fiberglass that went over the edge and seven stories straight down. It was a sheer vertical drop, with no twists or turns to slow you down. It was like bungee jumping without a cord.

The lifeguard beckoned me forward - it was my turn. My moment of truth had arrived. There was no going back. So I did the only reasonable thing possible. I sent my seven year old son down first to see if it was safe!

Have you ever experienced that unforgettable feeling in the pit of your stomach that comes when you’re going to do something new and unfamiliar?

You feel it the night before you start a new job, or when you wake up the morning your surgery is scheduled. You feel it as you walk into the examination room to take your finals. You feel it on your wedding day.

The recipe for that feeling calls for 2 cups of apprehension, 1lb. of butterflies, 1 tablespoon of anxiety, and a pinch of fear.

You get that feeling whenever life rips you out of your comfortable cocoon and thrusts you into the unknown where, for better or worse, you will never be the same again.

As we sit here in this peaceful place, it’s easy to forget that none of us knows what the future holds. Today or tomorrow, you might get a telephone call that will change your life forever. In a sense, we’re all standing on the edge of the unknown.

The future stretches out before us like a giant water slide. For some of us, the ride will be smooth and exciting. For others, it will be frightening and full of pain.

For all of us, the future will have sudden twists and unknown turns, so that we’ll find ourselves headed in directions we never could have guessed.

So what does God want to say to us today as we face the future? What message does He want to give us as we face the unknown? He wants to say to us what he said to his people back in the book of Deuteronomy.

In Deuteronomy 31, we find the children of Israel standing on the edge of the unknown. As they huddled in their tents on the hills of Moab east of the Jordan River, they were eyeball to eyeball with some gigantic changes in their life as a nation. They were at a crossroads.

For starters, they were going to lose the only leader they had ever had. Moses had been their head of state for 40 years, but now he was retiring. At the ripe old age of 120, he had reached the end of the line. It was time for him to hang up his staff. They were going to retire his jersey.

That alone was a big change, but another thing was even more daunting. Israel was about to enter, conquer, and settle a new land. What did they know about such things?

The wilderness was the only life they knew. They had lived in the desert for a generation. Say what you will about the wilderness, when you’ve lived anywhere for 40 years, it starts to feel like home.

Now they were facing a total change in their lifestyle. They were going to trade in their tents for houses, their herds for crops, and their campsites for cities.

But before they could do any of that, they had to strap on their swords and pick up their shields because there were battles to fight. The Canaanites weren’t exactly throwing out the welcome mat! There were fierce enemies to overcome.

So as Israel stood on the East side of Jordan, looking over into the Promised Land, they saw danger staring them back in the face. What did God do for them as they stood on the edge of the unknown?

He did four things:

1. He encouraged them with his presence

2. He enabled them with his power

3. He equipped them with his people

4. He energized them with his promises

Read Deut. 31:1-8

At dawn on June 6, 1944, the Allied forces landed on the coast of France to liberate Europe. It was the greatest sea-borne invasion in history. But it actually began the night before, and it began in the air.

Special airborne divisions, riding in gliders towed by transport planes, landed in fields and meadows behind the enemy lines. Their mission was to disrupt German communications and supply lines. Their goal was to prevent the German units defending the coast from being reinforced by the armored divisions inland.

These Allied airborne troops were guided to their landing areas by special airplanes called Pathfinders. The Pathfinders flew into enemy territory first and dropped flares marking the target.

The next morning, by the time the Germans realized that there was an invasion underway, it was too late, because the Pathfinders had done their job.

In verse 3, Moses says to the people: “The Lord your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you will take possession of their land.”

In verse 6, he says “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

In verse 8, he says “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

The big idea behind this passage is that God is with his people as they face the unknown. And God is not only with them, but he goes before them. He is a Pathfinder.

That’s why Moses said “Be encouraged! God is with you!” That’s why the Psalmist could say “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.”

The presence of God is one of the most encouraging doctrines of the Bible. When Moses hesitated to become the leader of Israel, God said to him “Go, and I will be with you. I will help you speak and I will teach you what to say.”

When Jeremiah hesitated to become God’s spokesman, God said to him “Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you.”

When the disciples stood fearfully wondering what life would be like once Jesus had gone back to heaven, he said to them “Lo, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Augustine was a Christian who lived in ancient Rome. He was once approached by a pagan who was an idol worshiper. The man showed Augustine his idol and said “Here is my god; where is yours?” Augustine replied “I cannot show you my God; not because there is no God to show but because you have no eyes to see Him.”

None of us knows what the future will bring into our lives. But there is one thing we do know: that the Lord himself will be with us, and actually goes into the future before us. Let’s pray that we would have eyes to see Him, and let’s be encouraged by his presence.

The second thing that God did for his people as they stood on the edge of the unknown was that he enabled them with his power.

When I studied geometry way back in high school, I learned several axioms. An axiom is a statement that is universally accepted as true. It needs no proof because it’s truth is self-evident.

There are axioms in the Bible as well. One of the most important biblical axioms is this: God’s presence brings with it God’s power. The presence of God with his people always implies the power of God to work on their behalf.

Look at verse 3 again. “The Lord your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you will take possession of their land.”

Who will destroy these nations? You will? No. He will. Look at verse 5: “The Lord will deliver them to you…”

The ultimate success of the Israelites’ military campaign wasn’t going to boil down to the quality of their equipment, the thoroughness of their training, or the depth of their fighting spirit. It wasn’t going to hinge on their superior strategy, the brilliance of their field commanders, or the security of their supply lines.

The whole operation was going to rest solely and squarely on God’s shoulders. The Lord made himself responsible for the outcome. If the children of Israel knew they had God’s presence, they knew they also had God’s power.

And the same is true of us today. As Christians, we have God’s power.

Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

2 Peter 1:3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

2 Corinthians 4:7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

Last summer, a young woman sat in my office. Several Christians had been witnessing to her, but the woman just didn’t seem to be ready to commit her life to Christ.

She said “It’s not that I don’t understand the Gospel; I do understand it. It’s just that I’m having a hard time accepting that God wants to forgive my sin without me having to do something. It’s not that it’s too hard; it seems to be too easy.”

I said to her, “Look, you’ve heard everything we’ve had to say about becoming a Christian. You don’t need more people talking to you; you don’t need more information; you just need God to speak to your heart. What I want you to do over the next few days is to simply read the Gospel of John, and see if God answers your questions and your doubts.”

She agreed to do that. A couple of weeks later, she came back with joy on her face and I knew what she was going to tell me. She had become a Christian. She had committed her life to Christ. It was the Word of God and the Spirit of God that had done their work in her life.

The battle is the Lord’s. We need to just get out of the way and let God’s power loose.

The third thing God did for the children of Israel was He equipped them with his people.

Look at verse 3: “Joshua also will cross over ahead of you, as the Lord said.”

One of the most wonderful ways that God provides for us as we face the unknown is that he brings into our lives special people who will minister to us.

The children of Israel had had Moses as their leader. Now it was time for Moses to turn in his badge. Would God leave them leaderless? No. He raised up Joshua to be their new leader.

For the past forty years, God had been in the process of grooming Joshua to take on this responsibility. God had foreseen the need for new leadership and he had quietly been working behind the scenes to prepare a new leader for this very moment.

Joshua was the man who was going to lead the people into the promised land. He was going to equip them, both spiritually and physically, to fight the battles that needed to be fought. He was going to divide up the land for them. He was God’s man for them as they faced the unknown.

I’m sure that you can look back over the years and see the way that God has brought special people into your life to minister to your needs just when you needed them most.

The longer I work in the pastorate, the more I realize that being a pastor is simply beyond my ability. How can anyone minister to the diverse collection of people found in the average local church?

You have successful business executives and unemployed laborers. There are young couples just starting a family, and middle-agers raising teenagers. Some folks are facing the rigors of the workplace every day, while others spend long hours ministering to young children at home.

There are Baby Boomers and Baby Busters. There are people struggling to recover from broken marriages, while others are preparing to tie the knot. Some people are drowning in a materialistic lifestyle, while others are struggling just to make ends meet.

When I step into the pulpit on a Sunday morning and look into the faces of all these people, I feel like Solomon, who said “I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties.”

But a few years ago, God brought into my life a man who took a special interest in me. This man is a busy missions executive. He travels extensively, preaching in churches all over the country. He certainly has enough to do with his time without bothering with me.

But from time to time, I’ll get a phone call, or a note in the mail from him that says something like this (and I’m quoting from his most recent letter to me.)

“Peter, I prayed for you today. It’s not easy to be on the front lines of ministry in these tumultuous days. I know your job is difficult. So I just wanted you to know that I remembered you today. I know that the Lord will give you grace for whatever comes your way in the next few hours.”

What an encouragement this man has been to me! As I look at a letter like that, I see God’s fingerprints all over it. God has used that man to bring blessing into my life. Getting a letter like that makes me want to serve God all the more. It’s equipping, it’s enabling, it’s encouraging.

And I’m sure that God has brought people like that into your life. He has raised up a Joshua for you at just the right time — someone to give you a pat on the back, or a shoulder to cry on, or maybe even a friendly kick in the pants!

As you face the future, you can count on God to continue to equip you with His people. One of the things you might want to consider is: “How can I be a Joshua for somebody else?”

The children of Israel stood on the edge of the unknown.

- God encouraged them with his presence

- God enabled them with his power

- God equipped them with his people

And finally, God energized them with his promises. Look at verse 7: “Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their forefathers to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance.”

As the children of Israel stood on the hills of Moab looking over into the land of Canaan, they weren’t looking at just any old piece of real estate! No. They were looking at the Promised Land.

That land was the subject of a solemn covenant and oath that God had made to their forefather Abraham. That land was spoken for. The Canaanites who were living in that land were interlopers; they were squatters. It didn’t belong to them, because possession of that land was predicated on the promises of God.

So as the Israelites were facing the unknown, God reminded them of that fact. He said “This land is your inheritance; I swore it to your forefathers, so go in and claim it.”

And if that weren’t enough to energize them, God reminded them of some things he had already done on their behalf. Look at verse 4: “And the Lord will do to them what he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, whom he destroyed along with their land.”

Sometimes it helps to look back before you move forward. David did that when he went out to fight Goliath. He said “God has already helped me to kill lions and bears that attacked my flocks; this Philistine will be like one of them.”

On our vacation last summer, I took my smallest sons out in a rowboat on Lake Canandaigua. As I sat at the oars, little Tommy, who was four years old at the time, piped up and said “Hey Dad, turn around. How are you going to see where you are going?”

So I explained to him that in a rowboat, you get to where you are going by looking back at where you’ve been. And that is a pretty good spiritual principle to remember as well. You get to where you are going by looking back at where you’ve been.

As we face the future, with all its mystery, let’s be energized by the promises of God’s Word. Promises to watch over us. Promises to provide for our needs. Promises to complete the good work that he has begun in us. Promises to never let anything separate us from his love. Promises to cause all things to work together for our good.

There’s an old song that goes something like this:

I don’t know about tomorrow, it may bring me poverty

But the one who feeds the sparrow is the one who stands by me. I don’t worry o’er the future for I know what Jesus said. And today I’ll walk beside him for he knows what is ahead. Many things about tomorrow I don’t seem to understand. But I know who holds tomorrow, and I know he holds my hand.

As we leave this sanctuary today, we are going back out into the unknown; back to the future. I thank God that we can face that future knowing that He will…

- encourage us with His presence

- enable us with His power

- equip us with His people

- energize us with His promises

God bless you as you go to serve Him.