The water didn’t part until the priests stepped in. Can you imagine being one of those priests, carrying the Ark and walking toward a raging river? “Is it going to stop now? Is it going to stop now?” But they kept taking the next step, and when their feet got wet, all those waters stopped like a wall.
This is the language of faith – taking the next step of obedience even when you can’t see the outcome. The priests couldn’t control whether the water would stop, but they could control their steps of obedience. Sometimes the best approach to dealing with our fear is simply taking the next step of obedience.
God doesn’t promise to give us grace five hours or five minutes ahead. He promises to give us mercy and grace to help us in our time of need. But that grace comes when we step into the need, not while we’re standing safely on the shore wondering what might happen.