“Have I not commanded you? Be
strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for
the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9
There are many people in the Bible that I truly admire. Joshua is
one of those people. I was excited that our Sunday school lesson
Sunday was about Joshua and how the Lord used him to lead God’s
people into the land he had promised them. Joshua was one of the two
spies, the other being Caleb, who believed God would help them
possess the Promised Land. The other ten were full of fear and gave a
negative report. They didn’t believe God would or perhaps even could help them. Out of
these 12 men, only two made it into the Promised Land: Joshua and
Caleb. The rest died in the wilderness.
We had our 4th graders count the number of times God
told Joshua to be strong and courageous in our scripture text 1-9. In just 3 verses, 6,7 and
9, God told Joshua these words 3 times. We aren’t told how Joshua
was feeling about his new task of taking Moses’ place in leading
this large group of people as well as leading the battles against
their foes that would ultimately secure their inheritance. But God
knew his heart. From the evidence of these encouraging words
being spoken to Joshua 3 times in one encounter, along with commanding him not to be afraid or discouraged, it seems that Joshua
may have been a little nervous. God in His loving nature didn’t
expect Joshua to be strong and courageous, nor win the battles in his
own strength. I love that He encouraged Joshua and assured him that
He would be with him. Verse 9 says, “Have I not commanded you? Be
strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for
the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”
Fear is a reality for many people. Fear and anxiety can often
paralyze a person. It can keep them in bondage, holding them back
from doing things that God is calling them to do. Fear of rejection,
fear of crowds, fear of public speaking, fear of failure, fear of not
measuring up, fear of being compared to someone else, fear of giving
up control, etc...etc...etc... None of these fears are from God. 2
Timothy 1:7 tells us that God has not given us the spirit of fear,
but of power, love and a sound mind.
I’m not speaking about something I know nothing about. I have
been prey to each of these at some point in my life. Some of them
still rear their ugly heads occasionally, and I have to resist them
and trust God. (Submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee.
James 4:7) I remember when I was a teenager/young adult when it was
time for greeting each other during our Sunday morning service at
church, I would slip out the back until it was over, afraid to have
to talk to people. I didn’t take chorus in junior high and high
school, even though I loved singing, because I was afraid I would
have to sing a solo in front of everyone. At 25, my Aunt who led the
singing at church wanted me to sing with the praise team. Sometimes
I would wait until the singing was over to go into church because I
was afraid she would call me up on stage.
As a new mom, I turned down an invite to go out with my husband’s
parents and some family friends because I was afraid my baby would
start crying, and I wouldn’t be able to comfort him. The woman we
were going with also had a baby and he never cried. I was afraid she
would be seen as a better mother than I. Worst of all, I was afraid
my mother-in law would take him from me, and he would stop crying.
Oh the horror!
I could go on and on, but you get the point.
At a defining point in my walk with God, I had had enough. I was at a
retreat where we were told to write down
something that we were willing to ultimately give to God and place the paper in a basket at the foot of a cross, obviously
symbolic of laying it at the feet of Jesus. This was one of mine. I
was tired of being timid and afraid. God has helped me so much with
this. I do still have my moments, but I don’t let them take me down
and keep me from doing what God is calling me to do. I want my
children to see me as a confident woman of God. Not in her own abilities
but in trusting God to help her overcome her fears. I want them to be strong and courageous and do whatever God leads them
to do. I need to be a good example for them.
Being courageous doesn’t mean you are completely fearless; it
means you do whatever needs to be done in spite of your fear. And we
don’t have to do it alone. God is with us. We need to be like
Joshua and Caleb who trusted God and believed in His ability to give
them victory instead of like the other ten spies who feared defeat
and didn’t trust God to do what He said He would do. They
actually let their fear and unbelief defeat them. By doing so,
they disobeyed God, thus never seeing the reality of what He had
promised them.
Remember, the first step is always the hardest!