Be Strong

“Be strong and courageous. Don’t tremble! Don’t be afraid of them! The Lord your God is the one who is going with you. He won’t abandon you or leave you.” Deuteronomy 31:6

Fear is one of the strongest emotions we face. It comes in many forms; nervousness, timidity, procrastination, shyness, intimidation and even aggressiveness. Most of the things we regret in life are due to letting fear talk us out of taking a difficult step forward. We may fear we are unqualified for a job and never pursue it. Fearing rejection, we are bashful, and perhaps miss out on relationships with interesting people.

Sometimes our fear is the result of failure in the past. Imagine being told you do not have a voice suitable for singing. Unless someone encourages you to develop your talent, you may simply give up. Or suppose you put your trust in someone, developed a fairly close friendship, only to have that friend betray you in one way or another. Add failure to failure and we may be so fearful we stay in the safe zone the rest of our lives. We may never get hurt, never take a big stumble, but we never experience the thrill of accomplishing something meaningful.

Moses had led Israel out of oppression in Egypt. Forty years later, wandering through the desert, testing God and having to experience His discipline over their disobedience, they now have finally arrived at the Jordan River. In His grace, God never forsook them or reneged on His promise to give them a land of their own. Moses’ job was over and now Joshua is appointed to lead them across the River to the Promised Land.

There is plenty to fear. There are no bridges across the Jordan. The first men sent to spy out the land came back with a report of bountiful provision, but also of a population of warriors who “made us look like grasshoppers.” Joshua, one of the spies, gave the minority report and said that, with God’s help, there was no reason they could not take the land.

 As difficult as wilderness life had been, Israel was now being asked to give up the comfort of what they knew and cross over into a land almost completely unfamiliar to them. More often than not, we choose the comfortable “known” over the unknown. We are challenged when we do not know what to expect.

You can see the lines of etched on people’s faces who have been imprisoned by fear. Afraid of ever being wrong, they often lash out at others before any discussion begins. They are never happy, thinking they must prove themselves to actually be fulfilled. Afraid of failure, they work themselves to death, excusing it as “making a living.” The truth is, they have avoided the best option available: making a life.

What would happen if we took God’s words seriously: “Be strong and courageous!” Some do, I suppose, ending the thought with only this phrase. But these are the sort that think barking orders like a sergeant is what true courage is about. They are sadly mistaken, and hardly ever motivate anyone else to truly move forward into a life they enjoy.

God does not bark the command: “Be courageous” and then leave us to our own devices to figure how. He says…”because.” That is such an important word when it comes to thinking about living with God in mind. If we do not capture the “because”, we find ourselves straining to stop being afraid, all on our won, discover we make little progress, and conclude we can’t even be courageous when God asks us to be.

“Because…the Lord your God is the one who is going with you. He won’t abandon you or leave you.” It is God’s personal presence that bolsters our courage. We are not meant to go it alone, bravely puffing out our chests while secretly quaking within. We have His promise that He will go with us as we trust Him along life’s path.

This does not mean we will “win” all the time. It does not guarantee success. It does guarantee that we will always have the One who has all power backing us up. We will have the One who loves us more than we can imagine watching over every step. So that, when we are making decisions with God’s plans in mind, we need never fear a complete meltdown or being left on our own to figure things out.

It is important to remember that these words of encouragement were said to God’s people just before obeying God’s orders. We do not have His promise to make everything turn out sweetly when we are living for our personal gain or pleasure. But, when our heart’s desire is to see God accomplish His destiny through us, we can be assured of His victorious presence.

Are you making plans and afraid to take a difficult step? Lay it before the God who loves you. He has promised to never leave or forsake you. Trusting Him, take that step and watch how He guides you along the way. Courage will fill those previous anxious thoughts the more you trust His promise to go with you.