A couple weeks ago, while I was studying, the Lord spoke a few words to me. He said ‘steps and stones.’ Steps and Stones, I had never heard that before, I have heard ‘sticks and stones’ but not steps and stones. I kept these words in my heart and meditated on them.
The Lord took me to the book of Joshua, chapter 4; “And it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed over the Jordan, that the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying: “Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from every tribe, and command them, saying, ‘Take for yourselves twelve stones from here, out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet stood firm. You shall carry them over with you and leave them in the lodging place where you lodge tonight.
Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the children of Israel, one man from every tribe; and Joshua said to them: “Cross over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever.”
God commanded these stones to be set in place for one purpose; to remember the mighty acts of God. We see this same principle again in Genesis 28:11-19; “So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.” Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!” Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel.”
Again, we see a stone of remembrance was placed in the very spot where God showed up. These are stones of remembrance.
Then God said to me; “Before there are stones of remembrance, there must be steps of the Lord.”
Psalm 37:23 says; “the steps of a good man are ordered of the Lord and he delights in his way.”
Before Joshua or Jacob were at a place to lay stones of remembrance, they first had to follow the steps of the Lord. They had to go the way God told them to go, one step at a time. They didn’t leap from point A to point B – no, they went their way ONE STEP at a time. It is the same for us.
Our steps are ordered of the Lord; ordered means directs and established. If God tells us to go a certain way – it is his job to establish those steps and he will. Our job is to take the steps, but not only to take the steps. You see, ‘he delights in his way’ means that one is pleased to go God’s way.
This reminds me of Isaiah 1:19 that tells us that it is the ‘willing and obedient’ who eat the good of the land. We can’t only be obedient, we must also be willing and pleased to do it God’s way. This goes back to the writing I sent out this week on Breaking up the Fallow Ground. We have to allow God to do a work in our heart so that we do become willing and pleased to go Gods way.
Steps of the Lord, when followed by us, will eventually bring stones of remembrance. Stones of remembrances are places where God shows up in an awesome way and does exactly what he said he would.
You see them all throughout the bible and they didn’t stop there – they are still happening today. I can look back and see where I have laid many stones of remembrance, I am sure you have as well. But first, I had to go Gods way, take his steps, willingly.
Steps and stones – it’s your destiny. Begin to take his steps and you will find yourself laying stones of remembrance of the mighty acts of God, all along your way. Steps and stones….his way.
