Friday, May 18, 2007

Be strong and courageous!

I always wonder if I should post when I don't have any big news to share, but I decided to go ahead and post about what God has been showing me the last few days. Maybe it will encourage someone in similar circumstances.

It is SO easy to dip into despair when feeling disappointment and discouragement. When things don't go as expected or as desired, we start to wonder where God is and why He allows a trial to continue.

Where is God?
It's no secret. His answer is right in His word....

"I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,"


It is neat if you look at the Greek, you find five negatives in that verse. So it is more like:

I will NEVER, NEVER, NEVER desert you, nor NEVER will I EVER forsake you."

That is a promise any believer can hang their hat on. We have to walk by faith rather than live by feeling.... He will NEVER leave or forsake us!!

When Joshua and the Israelites were preparing to take the land God had given them, they sent spies to check out the land before they went in.

The spies saw giants and fortified cities, and...
all of the sudden their God had become too small to handle human giants.

They panicked. They missed out on the blessing to come. They forgot their God is omnipotent.

Forty years later, the Israelites returned and prepared to enter the same land and encounter the same giants and God repeatedly exhorted them, "Be strong and courageous!" (Joshua 1: 6,7,9)

This time, it was different. They proceeded in faith rather than listening to their feelings. They entered the land and faced the giants. What can I learn from them? To be strong and courageous, because our God is omnipotent and our God reigns. It continues to boil down to trust. Do I trust Him enough to believe that we will be okay even though my mind keeps telling me to panic? If I don't, I could miss out on the blessing, like the Israelites did for forty years!

Be strong and courageous.
Do not be afraid or terrified because of them,
for the LORD your God goes with you;
he will never leave you nor forsake you. Deut. 31:6






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