Go Slowly… You’ve Never Been This Way Before

“You have never been this way before.”
(Joshua 3:4, NIV)

Don’t you love it when you really know how to do something? You’ve done it so often that it’s fast, instinctive, almost effortless. Muscle memory kicks in. You get in the zone and fly. I used to live in the countryside, and I knew those winding roads like the back of my hand. Even now, when I’m back there with Vicky in the car and I’m zipping along, she laughs and says, “Well, you’d better know where you’re going!” I usually slow down as an act of grace—eventually.

Our adventure park has a high ropes course that perfectly illustrates this. It begins in a tall wooden tower and leads out across open-air obstacles, through a tunnel, and into the biggest dome in the north of England. Twelve metres up, navigating rope challenges, circling the ceiling, and back again. Guests pay for an hour and do well to complete it twice. It’s tough. New. Challenging. But the instructors—who train, teach, and occasionally rescue on it every day—can complete the whole thing in under two minutes. That’s the power of familiarity.

But today’s verse is not about speed. It’s about restraint.

As Israel prepared to cross the Jordan, their leaders gave a clear instruction: watch the ark. Why? “You have never been this way before” (Joshua 3:4). Experience wouldn’t help them here. History couldn’t guide them. Muscle memory would be useless. This was uncharted territory, and uncharted territory demands attentiveness. Slowness. Observation.

And that feels deeply relevant right now.

These are new days. Not the revivals of the 1970s, not the worship movements of the 1980s, not the apostolic expansion of the 1990s. We are living in a new century—and more importantly, a new era. God is doing new things (Isaiah 43:19). New expressions. New wineskins. New methods. Innovation, creativity, and fresh forms of Kingdom life are bubbling up everywhere.

So how do we live well at the beginning of something new?

We go slowly.

Not because we lack faith, but because we honour the moment. Rushing in a new season can injure us—or others. Presumption won’t help here. Speed may cause us to miss the value of what God is forming. Scripture reminds us, “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). Stillness is often the birthplace of discernment.

God’s pace is rarely frantic. “The Lord is not slow… but is patient” (2 Peter 3:9). “Let us walk in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25). Walking with God requires attentiveness to His speed, not ours.

If, like me, you tend to strive, rush, or push ahead, this season may require laying that preference down. Jesus said, “The Son can do nothing by Himself; He can do only what He sees His Father doing” (John 5:19). Seeing requires looking. Looking requires slowing.

So today, give yourself permission to go gently. Watch the ark. Observe God. Listen carefully. You’ve never been this way before—and that’s not a problem. It’s an invitation.

Believe & Confess Meditation & Declaration

I walk in step with the Spirit and move at God’s pace, not my own (Galatians 5:25). As I wait on the Lord, He renews my strength and directs my steps (Isaiah 40:31). God is doing a new thing, and He gives me eyes to perceive it (Isaiah 43:19). I am still before the Lord, and I recognise His leadership in my life (Psalm 46:10). I trust the Lord with all my heart and He makes my path straight (Proverbs 3:5–6). I follow Jesus carefully, doing only what I see the Father doing (John 5:19).

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