Standing on the Edge of a New Season

There are moments in life when you can feel the shift. You sense it in your spirit before you see it with your eyes. You know something is ending, and something new is beginning, but you are not quite sure how to step into it. I believe many of us are right there. We are standing on the edge of a new season.

Joshua 3 shows us what it looks like to stand at the threshold of change. Israel had wandered for forty years. Moses was gone. A new generation had risen. They were standing on the banks of the Jordan River, tiptoes hanging over the edge of a promise they had heard about their entire lives. But God spoke a word to them that still speaks to us now:

“Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”
Joshua 3:5

Before God transitions you, He always does a work within you. Consecration always comes before crossing.

We are only weeks away from a new year. If we are not intentional, we will blink and find ourselves in 2026 without clarity, direction, or spiritual readiness. Joshua 3 gives us a pattern to follow as we prepare to step into what God has next.

Let me walk you through it.

1. Follow the Presence, Not the Crowd

When the officers passed through the camp, they told the people, “When you see the Ark of the Covenant move, then you move after it.” The Ark represented the presence of God among His people. Israel did not take their cues from the headlines or the surrounding nations. They took their cues from the presence.

This is one of the most important questions you can ask yourself as you approach a new year:

Am I being led by the presence of God or by the pressure of people?

Do not chase trends. Do not chase the voices that claim to predict what is coming. Set your face toward His presence and move when He moves.

2. Keep a Holy Margin in Your Life

Joshua instructed the people to keep a space of about two thousand cubits between them and the Ark. That is roughly half a mile. God was teaching them something. If you crowd God with your plans, if you force your way into His timing, you will lose your perspective.

This is not about distance from God. It is about reverence. It is about slowing down long enough to see where He is going. It is about resisting the urge to rush ahead of Him.

When you approach a new season, margin is not optional. Quiet the noise. Slow your pace. Clear your schedule. Keep the fear of the Lord before you so you do not move outside His timing.

3. Consecrate Yourself Before You Cross

Joshua 3:5 is the heart of the passage. “Sanctify yourselves.” The Hebrew word is qadash. It means cleanse, dedicate, prepare. God was not asking the people to be perfect. He was asking them to be ready.

If we want to step into a new season well, there are some things we have to do:

• Repent of hidden compromise. The things no one sees matter just as much as the things everyone sees.
• Forgive the people who wounded you. You cannot take bitterness with you into a new year.
• Fast and reset your affections. Take a lunch break, sit in your car with your Bible, and ask God to speak.
• Surrender your plans to the Lord. Ask Him if you let culture, pressure, or opinion shape your goals more than His voice.

Consecration today sets you up for manifestation tomorrow. You cannot cross over into the new carrying what belonged to a former season. Even past blessings can become idols if you hold onto them too tightly.

4. Move With His Presence Even When You Cannot See the Promise Yet

The Jordan River was flooded at harvest time. There was no natural way across. God told the priests, “When your feet touch the water, then I will part it.”

In other words, “I will move after you obey.”

Sometimes faith feels like walking toward automatic doors that have not opened yet. You do not wait thirty feet back and hope they sense you. You walk right up to them. You get close enough that when you step in obedience, they open.

Some of you are waiting for the water to part before you move. But the water will not part until your foot hits it.

5. Stand Firm in the Middle Until Everyone Crosses

Joshua 3:17 says the priests stood in the middle of the Jordan, holding the presence of God on their shoulders, until the entire nation had crossed over.

This is leadership. This is intercession. This is what many of you are carrying right now. You are standing between what was and what is coming. You are holding steady while others are crossing behind you.

Do not rush out of the middle. Your steadiness is someone else’s safe passage.

6. Build a Memorial of Gratitude

After the crossing, God instructed twelve men to gather twelve stones from the riverbed and build a monument on the other side. These stones were a reminder to future generations that God had made a way.

Gratitude seals grace.

Before this year ends, take time to reflect. Journal the moments where God provided, protected, corrected, redirected, sustained or rescued you. Sit with your children, your spouse, or your community and rehearse the faithfulness of God.

What you celebrate is drawn closer to you. What you forget moves further away. Remembering reinforces your faith for the new season ahead.

The Big Picture

Joshua 3 shows us a pattern:

• God leads the way.
• Consecration prepares the heart.
• Faith moves before the miracle appears.
• Leaders stand steady in transition.
• Gratitude builds momentum into the future.

Crossing the Jordan was never just about geography. It was about alignment. It was about purification. It was about learning to listen, follow, trust, and obey.

God’s wonders are not random. They are His response to consecrated readiness.

And His call remains the same:

“Sanctify yourselves today, because tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”

A Prayer for This Season

Lord, sanctify us for what is next.
Help us to step into 2026 clean, aligned, and full of faith.
Remove the remnants of the wilderness from our hearts.
Prepare us for the promise before us.
Lead us, purify us, and do wonders among us.
In Jesus’ name, amen.