By Martin Hodson
A sentence in Joshua 3 has been going round in my mind:
Then you will know which way to go,
since you have never been this way before. (Joshua 3:4)
The second phrase resonates with our experience of living in the present crisis. We want to be God’s people faithfully in these times, but we have never been this way before. We are beginning to settle into new ways of connecting and gathering, but where is all this leading?
The Israelites hear these words by the River Jordan, as they are about to cross into a new land. When they see the ark of the covenant moving (the symbol of God’s presence among his people), then they will know which way to go. In other words, God will lead them and they will move ahead together.
This edition of Connect is a small contribution to considering both these ideas, as we navigate through the Coronavirus period. By sharing stories of how we are glimpsing God at work in and through our churches, we are hoping to help each other discern how God is leading us. The question we face is not simply what works? Or what do we enjoy? It is, how is God leading us? And since God has called us to be a fellowship of churches, a community of communities journeying with him as partners, we can expect to learn from one another, so we move ahead together into the new things he is revealing in these strange times. Moving ahead together does not mean we all end up in exactly the same place (the twelve tribes ended up spread far and wide, with many differences), but they supported and encouraged each other on the journey and learned from God together.
