Crossing Jordan Without Fear
When the guide is gone, the path remains—and the Lord walks it with you.
Devotional Credit:
My Utmost for His Highest – This Experience Must Come by Oswald Chambers
Photo Credit:
Unsplash
In today’s devotional, Oswald Chambers speaks to the moment when God removes the guiding presence of a trusted mentor, spiritual parent, or close companion, not as a loss to grieve endlessly, but as a divine step into a new season of direct dependence upon Him. Just as Elisha had to stand without Elijah, we too face moments when the person we leaned on is no longer there to hold our hand. That absence is not abandonment; it is God’s invitation to lean on Him alone.
Chambers uses the imagery of Jordan, Jericho, and Bethel to illustrate three places where this aloneness tests us. At the Jordan, we step forward without human support, discovering whether our faith is truly anchored in the God we profess to trust. At Jericho, we face resistance that makes us long for someone else to take the lead, yet God calls us to act on the truth we have already learned. At Bethel, we reach the end of our own wisdom, where panic tempts us, but trust transforms our fear into a living testimony of God’s sufficiency.
The thread through each of these places is this: the God who was faithful when your Elijah was beside you is the same God who remains when you walk on alone. What you learned in those earlier seasons was never meant to terminate in the person who taught you, but in the Lord who empowered them. His desire is not to leave you stranded, but to lead you into a firsthand experience of His life working in and through you.
This experience must come, and when it does, it is not to diminish you, but to grow you. It is in these moments of quiet aloneness that the reality of the indwelling Lord becomes more than a doctrine—it becomes your life.
Journal Entry – Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture
I have placed people in your life to guide you for a season, yet I have always been the One sustaining you. Do not think that their absence means My absence. I am with you now, as surely as I was with you when they stood beside you. I have not left you as an orphan, for My Spirit lives within you.
At your Jordan, step forward without fear. What you have learned in the presence of others, now live out in My presence alone. At your Jericho, when resistance rises and you wish for someone else to lead, remember that I am your strength and your victory. At your Bethel, when you see no way forward and the limits of your wisdom press hard, stand still in Me and watch My truth unfold before you.
You are not without direction. The life you now live is Mine, and I will express it in you as you yield to Me. What you learned in the light with others, you will now prove in the quiet with Me.
Scripture References: 2 Kings 2:11–14, Galatians 2:20, John 14:18, Joshua 1:9, Colossians 3:3, 2 Corinthians 12:9–10, Isaiah 41:10, Philippians 1:6
Real-Life Analogy
Imagine walking into a familiar kitchen at night when the power is out. You know where the drawers and appliances are because someone once showed you, guiding you as you cooked side by side. But now the lights are off, and you must navigate without their voice or presence. At first it feels strange, but as you move, you realize you do know the way. Their instruction remains in your mind, and you find yourself making the same confident steps they once made with you.
In the same way, when a mentor or trusted guide is no longer with you, you are not abandoned. What they taught you was meant to anchor you in the Lord’s sufficiency, not their presence. Today, if you face a “power outage” moment where you no longer see or hear the one you once leaned on, pause and yield to Him: “Lord, I trust You to walk this step with me and to work Your life through me here.” That moment becomes living proof that your confidence rests in Him alone.
Prayer of Confidence
Lord, thank You that the same Spirit who worked in my mentors lives in me now. I rejoice that my faith is anchored in You, not in the presence of another person. I praise You for every lesson You allowed me to learn through others, and I thank You that now, in this season, I live them out directly in fellowship with You. I rest in the certainty that You are my guide, my wisdom, and my sufficiency in every step I take.