The Lord said to Joshua “Just as I was with Moses so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.” He continues in the first chapter of Joshua and says again in verse nine, ” Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord you God is with you wherever you go.” This Joshua that God gave this command to would leave God’s people into the land He promised to Abraham. Joshua had a daunting task in front of him and not to mention he was following the footsteps of one of the greatest leaders in all of Israel who is Moses.
But as God was with Moses He promised He would be with Joshua as well. The same God that was with Joshua is the same God with you and me as well.
I would like to talk a little about self-doubt. I deal with it on a day to day basis. I reminded of how the world has told me I am not good enough, how I am not smart enough, how what I speak of is foolishness, and how I will never amount to anything. I feel like sometimes the more I know Jesus and His incredible grace and peace the more the enemy and the world pushes back. I will be honest; sometimes I am afraid to speak up and share His amazing love and mercy. I have a fear of being rejected and being left all alone. My heart aches for those you don’t know the One who can set them free. All I want is for people to know what I know, that Jesus brings true peace.
I have had many nights crying out to God because of the anguish in my soul of those who do not know Him. People are told today that truth is relative and that whatever one believes that is truth. But Jesus says in John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus is the only way and to the world that is hard to hear and accept.
Jesus never said it would be easy following Him and in fact says in John 15:18-19 “If the world hates you. Know that it has hated me before if hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but I chose you out of the world. Therefore I have chosen you out of the world.”
When I talk about Jesus to others, I don’t do it my sake, but do it with the hope that they may experience the same joy I have in Him. The truth is we all need a savior, we all are people who have gone our own way, and we all have fallen short of the glory of God. Jesus is the One who brings us back to God and gives us true life.
I cannot hold what God has given me to myself, even though that is what the enemy and the world wants. If you hear great news, you would want to tell that to someone right? Well, I have the best news of all and I want to share it because I know how amazing it is. Do I still have fears, yes, but I know the One, and He says to me “Do not fear.”
