"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” -Joshua 1:9
The Lord had just given Joshua the instructions for success in verse 8 and now He is giving him verbal affirmation along with that. Why did He do that? Why do we need God's reaffirmation in our life? We can find the answer to both of these questions by looking at what the Lord told Joshua, He says "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” God needed to remind Him that He was the one commanding him, and that this was a true calling on Joshua's life. God needed to exhort him to be strong and to take courage because He would be with Him. Often when God encourages us and exhorts us to not be fearful and to take courage it is because the person hearing it is either discouraged or fearful. Jesus used a similar statement five times: to the paralytic He said "take courage your sins are forgiven"; to the hemorrhaging woman He said "take courage your faith has made you well"; to the fearful disciples in the storm He said; "take courage do not be afraid it is I"; again in the upper room He tells them "take courage I have overcome the world"; and to Paul when he was going through a difficult trial in Corinth He comes to him and says "do not be afraid, keep on speaking, do not be silent for I am with you". God always has the right word for us to hear and God's word is always found in God's word. We must look no further than prayer and scriptures to find the word needed to keep us going. You see the world lives to keep you down, it will pound you and grind you if you allow it. There are so many things that the world brings our way that will cause us to be afraid and be discouraged. But there is only one thing we need to know to face it, namely that Christ is with us and He will never leave us nor forsake us. See the world might live to bring you down but Christ died to lift you up. So keep your head up and your eyes fixed on Him knowing that He not only has a plan for your life but that He is their with you every step of the way to help you achieve it.
- WHAT ARE YOU MOST AFRAID OF AND WHY? HOW DOES THE PROMISE THAT GOD IS WITH YOU ENCOURAGE YOU?
- David: “though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me” -Psa 23:4