Day 092: Encouragement

Then Moses called Joshua and said to him before all Israel, "Be valiant and strong, for you must go before this people to the land the Lord swore to their fathers to give them; and you shall cause them to inherit it.  But the Lord, He is the One who goes before you.  He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not be afraid, nor be terrified."  Deuteronomy 31:7-8

How would Joshua have felt hearing this?  Of course, for a while before this point he had been appointed to lead, but now it was getting serious - it was time for him to take the reins.

Joshua was there in Israel, witnessing all the issues.  He saw the people turn away from God so many times, but he continued to follow God.  He also saw what struggles Moses had in order to lead Israel forward.  He even saw the punishment that Moses received for doubting God.  Now he was supposed to take up this glamorous position.  I, for one, would be utterly terrified by such a job.  I'd run away as far as I could from the position.

We don't like for things to be difficult in our life.  We want things to go the way we plan them to, and we want everybody around us to understand us and follow our lead, whatever that might be.  However, God has very important plans for each and every one of us.  God appointed us before we were born, and as we grow, we learn more and more about where we are supposed to be going.  But that's where things get difficult.  Rather than follow things as they are written in our own minds and books, we are called to allow for God to lead us the way we need to be led.  We need to allow God to guide us to the Promised Land.

If it seems impossible, just take a moment to read about what Joshua did.  He ended up leading Israel to many different victories during battles so that they could control more land.  That all happened because he was faithful to God.  When we are faithful to God, we will find so many things falling into place.  God blesses us with this same benediction.  God does not want to scare us.  In fact, God is always calling our name, before all the peoples, commanding us to be strong as we will lead our way into the Promised Land.