Courageous
After some time, I realized that it was time for me to return to setting aside a portion of my day for reflection and reading God’s Word. Just imagine the Snickers commercial where the crazy character realizes they aren’t themselves without a Snickers. In my case, I wasn’t myself without God. Reflection was easy and pleasant. But I knew down inside that I wasn’t going to the source where I would ultimately find encouragement and “soul food.” I imagine God’s probably saying “Finally! She heard me calling for her!”
As many of us do at the end of the year, we recount the things we accomplished, reflect on the memories we created with loved ones, mourn the missed opportunities to do better, and vow to be the best versions of ourselves in the upcoming year. I took a few days and realized that God was with me throughout the whole year. I feel that last year, I have probably grown more in my belief that God is present in each and every aspect of our lives….if we choose to see Him. Many times over the past year, my heart grieved from feeling alone or that my dreams were not coming true. But as some of you know, I experienced my first real health scare this summer. One of my biggest fears with living in the DC area without family is having what happened this summer happen. Essentially, I earned myself a 4 day stay-cation in the hospital and a three week vacation at home with NO adventure or scenic getaway. I had all of the amenities of any hospital vacation could have with needles, probes, scans, nurses, a team of doctors, and endless medical appointments leading to even more questions and elusive answers. But through that, I felt God with me the whole time whether it was with my close friends who were there with me at my weakest and most embarrassing moments to the moments when I was physically alone and could sing songs to myself like “What a Friend” and “Blessed Assurance.”
I share this because it relates to what came from my first quiet time with God. Before my break from consistent quiet times, I made my way through the Old Testament up to Joshua. When I was reading consistently, the Bible came alive! No need to watch Scandal or Empire, you’d be surprised to know all of the ratchet things that people did in the books of Genesis, Exodus, and so forth. In some ways, it was a precursor to what we see in human behavior now, thousands of years after Adam and Eve. Sin is just as ugly as it was back then as it is now. But we also know that God is just as beautiful and mighty as He was then as He is now and will ever be! Ok, back to the quiet time. Joshua picks up with Moses getting a glimpse of the Promise Land, but dying just before he was able to lead his people, the Israelites, there just as he had probably dreamed his life would include. Joshua and Kaleb were two of the scouts who saw great potential in the land and were ultimately honorable men in God’s eyes. Joshua is placed as leader of the people as they make their way over the Jordan River. Given that Moses, a great man in God’s eyes and in our terms a badass, has now died, I can easily imagine chaos, fear, and discouragement running amuck within the great following. But here is where God has confidence in His own work that He wants the Israelites to clothe themselves with that same confidence. Here’s where we pick it up
7 “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 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 1:7-9 (NIV)
The thing that resonated with me is that God had enough confidence that he wanted His people to be courageous in the midst of loss, fear, and the unknown. I haven’t read the rest of the book to know how they actually did. In prior Scripture, the group frequently complained and quarreled. But the main thing is that God was calling his people to be courageous!
This past year I completed a goal of doing a sprint triathlon. Many would call that courageous or just plain stupid. It was something I feared, but continued to pursue and ultimately succeeded. But as I set my sights forward to the new year, do I need some daring challenge to live a life defined by courage?
Can I be courageous in my prayer for others?
Can I be courageous in stepping out of my comfort zone?
Can I be even more courageous in my faith in God?
My hope is that just asJoshua and the Israelites were, so will I in the days ahead.
From this passage on my first day back, I am getting a sense that God gave me the experience from the summer to show me that He will be faithful in his promise to me, which is to never leave me, but I can also be courageous in moving forward to whatever that is.
As many of us do at the end of the year, we recount the things we accomplished, reflect on the memories we created with loved ones, mourn the missed opportunities to do better, and vow to be the best versions of ourselves in the upcoming year. I took a few days and realized that God was with me throughout the whole year. I feel that last year, I have probably grown more in my belief that God is present in each and every aspect of our lives….if we choose to see Him. Many times over the past year, my heart grieved from feeling alone or that my dreams were not coming true. But as some of you know, I experienced my first real health scare this summer. One of my biggest fears with living in the DC area without family is having what happened this summer happen. Essentially, I earned myself a 4 day stay-cation in the hospital and a three week vacation at home with NO adventure or scenic getaway. I had all of the amenities of any hospital vacation could have with needles, probes, scans, nurses, a team of doctors, and endless medical appointments leading to even more questions and elusive answers. But through that, I felt God with me the whole time whether it was with my close friends who were there with me at my weakest and most embarrassing moments to the moments when I was physically alone and could sing songs to myself like “What a Friend” and “Blessed Assurance.”
I share this because it relates to what came from my first quiet time with God. Before my break from consistent quiet times, I made my way through the Old Testament up to Joshua. When I was reading consistently, the Bible came alive! No need to watch Scandal or Empire, you’d be surprised to know all of the ratchet things that people did in the books of Genesis, Exodus, and so forth. In some ways, it was a precursor to what we see in human behavior now, thousands of years after Adam and Eve. Sin is just as ugly as it was back then as it is now. But we also know that God is just as beautiful and mighty as He was then as He is now and will ever be! Ok, back to the quiet time. Joshua picks up with Moses getting a glimpse of the Promise Land, but dying just before he was able to lead his people, the Israelites, there just as he had probably dreamed his life would include. Joshua and Kaleb were two of the scouts who saw great potential in the land and were ultimately honorable men in God’s eyes. Joshua is placed as leader of the people as they make their way over the Jordan River. Given that Moses, a great man in God’s eyes and in our terms a badass, has now died, I can easily imagine chaos, fear, and discouragement running amuck within the great following. But here is where God has confidence in His own work that He wants the Israelites to clothe themselves with that same confidence. Here’s where we pick it up
7 “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 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 1:7-9 (NIV)
The thing that resonated with me is that God had enough confidence that he wanted His people to be courageous in the midst of loss, fear, and the unknown. I haven’t read the rest of the book to know how they actually did. In prior Scripture, the group frequently complained and quarreled. But the main thing is that God was calling his people to be courageous!
This past year I completed a goal of doing a sprint triathlon. Many would call that courageous or just plain stupid. It was something I feared, but continued to pursue and ultimately succeeded. But as I set my sights forward to the new year, do I need some daring challenge to live a life defined by courage?
Can I be courageous in my prayer for others?
Can I be courageous in stepping out of my comfort zone?
Can I be even more courageous in my faith in God?
My hope is that just asJoshua and the Israelites were, so will I in the days ahead.
From this passage on my first day back, I am getting a sense that God gave me the experience from the summer to show me that He will be faithful in his promise to me, which is to never leave me, but I can also be courageous in moving forward to whatever that is.
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