What If God Is Leading You Somewhere You've Never Been?

By Pastor John Erickson

There are two kinds of people in the world: Star Trek people and Star Wars people.

I know, that's a bold statement. And I know some of you are already preparing an argument.

I'm a Star Trek person. I grew up watching The Next Generation. Captain Picard is still my favorite captain. There's something about the opening of that show: the stars, the enormous universe, and that invitation to go somewhere no one has gone before.

I love the idea of exploring something new.

Of course, liking new worlds on television is a little different from following God into an unfamiliar place in your actual life.

Because in real life, we like things we can predict.

You Have Never Been This Way Before

In Joshua 3, the Israelites are camped at the Jordan River. They have wandered in the wilderness for forty years. And now the land God promised is right across the water.

The instructions are simple: when they see the priests carrying the ark of the covenant, they are to move out and follow. Joshua 3:4 tells them that following will show them the way, "since you have never been this way before."

I love that line.

The unfamiliar can be exciting. It can also be terrifying.

The Israelites knew the wilderness. It wasn't where they were supposed to stay forever, but at least they understood it. They had routines. They knew the paths.

Across the Jordan was something new.

And that is where faith often becomes difficult. It's not always that we don't believe God is good. Sometimes we're simply comfortable enough with what is familiar that we don't want to risk changing it.

Follow the Presence of God

The ark of the covenant represented God's presence among his people. So notice what God doesn't tell them.

He doesn't say, "Go figure out the whole route and I'll meet you when you get there." He tells them to follow where his presence leads.

That's a helpful picture for us. When you're facing uncertainty, begin with what is familiar about God: his character, his faithfulness, the wisdom of his Word.

Our circumstances may be unfamiliar. God is not.

That doesn't mean every new opportunity is a sign from heaven. Sometimes it's just a new opportunity. But it means we need not make decisions as though we are entirely on our own.

We can pray. We can seek wisdom. We can let Scripture shape our priorities. We can invite mature friends to help us discern.

And then we may need to move.

Before They Crossed, They Prepared Their Hearts

Joshua tells the people to consecrate themselves because the Lord will do amazing things among them (Joshua 3:5).

Consecrate is a word we don't use much in ordinary conversation. It means to set something apart for God. For Israel, that involved outward preparation, but it also called for an inward readiness.

We often want to skip straight to the exciting part of faith. The breakthrough. The victory. The story we can tell everybody afterward.

But sometimes preparation begins with looking honestly at our own lives.

Gina and I once worked through our house using Marie Kondo's approach to simplifying. By the time we were about halfway through, we had filled twenty-four bags with things to throw away or donate. Twenty-four full bags, plus a few larger items. And it was not as though we had set out to become hoarders. Things just accumulate.

Preparation can also be humbling. Before my first date with Gina, I showered, put on my best button-up shirt and pants, and went to get gas so I would not need to stop during the date. Then I overfilled the tank and got gas on my clothes. Back home I went to change into my second-best outfit. I was in college; the drop in quality between first and second place was substantial.

That is a small, ridiculous picture of preparation going sideways. Joshua is talking about something deeper: setting ourselves apart for God, rather than only arranging the circumstances around us.

Our hearts can be like that, too.

We collect habits, resentments, distractions, and fears. Some aren't obvious sins. They're simply things taking up space, quietly keeping us from living with the attention and freedom God invites us into.

Before asking God to do something new around us, it's worth asking what he wants to clear away within us.

The Priests Had to Step into the Water

Then comes my favorite detail.

Joshua 3 tells us that the Jordan was at flood stage. This was not a shallow stream that the priests could easily hop over.

And yet the water stopped when the priests carrying the ark reached the edge and their feet touched it.

Think about that. They had to take a step toward the water before seeing the path open.

Now, this isn't a formula that says every risk we take will produce a miracle. The text describes a specific act of God in Israel's story.

But it does challenge the way we often want to approach obedience. We want the river to stop first. We want every detail resolved, every possible problem eliminated, and an absolute guarantee that nothing will go wrong.

Sometimes we have all the direction we're going to get until we start moving.

Boldly Go-but Not on Your Own

I love the courage of those priests. They didn't stop the river. God did. Their task was to follow.

That's an important distinction. We don't have to manufacture the outcome. We are responsible for our part: listening, preparing, and responding faithfully.

So where are you standing at the edge of something unfamiliar?

Maybe God is calling you into a difficult conversation. A new ministry. An act of generosity. A deeper commitment to prayer. A step toward healing that you've been avoiding.

Perhaps you're waiting for the fear to disappear. But what if the next step isn't about becoming fearless?

What if it is about remembering who goes before you?

God hasn't promised to make every new road easy. But we can trust him as we follow where he leads-even when we've never been that way before.