It’s official. On Friday, August 17, 2018, when I exit the doors of my office, I will officially be RETIRED!

What? How did that happen? I’m only in my twenties, right?

I’ll tell you, there’s a host of mixed emotions going on inside me. Seventeen years I have been at this job. My co-workers are like family to me. They have all loved me well over the years – through deaths of loved ones, births of grandchildren, and all the normal ups and downs of life (Hello, menopause! God bless my co-workers who had to deal with THOSE ups and downs of mine!). 

I’m not going to lie, though. I’m tired. I’ve sensed for a while that it was time to move into a new season. I’ve prayed over this decision. And I have felt the Lord release me, giving me a little shove in the small of my back, helping me to move on. Helping me take this next step of faith.

When I think about it, retirement is something I’ve worked hard for since I was sixteen years old. It’s my inheritance, if you will.

Now it’s time to cross the Jordan, into this new land that the Lord has given me. It’s time to slow down a bit, and rest in His promises. 

Just like the Israelites about to cross the Jordan, retirement and not working outside the home is a path I haven’t traveled before (Josh 3:4). I’m excited, and I’m scared. I’ve never NOT worked, and helped bring income into our home. 

When the people of Israel were instructed to cross the Jordan River, it was flooded and overflowing the banks. When the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant reached the edge of the river, they were to stand in the water (Joshua 3:14-17). Just go on, jump into the overflowing, flooding river! Hmmm, I don’t think so!

A few years back, we had flooding in our area. One of the bayous I had to cross each day had overflowed its banks. Now, normally, it is a slow moving, meandering bayou. Not when it’s flooded! There were snakes and alligators and all sorts of creepy crawly things. The normally sleepy bayou was rushing with flood waters. NO WAY would I ever put my toes in that water!

Because, you see, I couldn’t see. I didn’t know how deep the water was, or how fast it was moving beneath the surface, or what dangers lurked there.

But the minute you cross the Jordan River and settle into the land GOD, your God, is enabling you to inherit, he’ll give you rest from all your surrounding enemies. You’ll be able to settle down and live in safety. Deuteronomy 12:10 MGS  

God had told the people that the minute they crossed the river and settled down, He would give them rest. The minute the priests put their feet in the water, in faith, those flood waters dried up. The priests stood firmly on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, and all Israel was able to cross on dry ground. 

All it took was faith to dip their toes in the water.

How about you? Is there flood water that the Lord is asking you to cross? It’s scary isn’t it?! But this is His promise: you will have firm, dry ground; you will have rest; you have inherited this. 

Now, go take it!