By: Monique Smith
Be strong and
courageous
The Lord impressed upon my spirit today to flip to Joshua 1
during my morning quiet time with Him. The words in the scriptures encouraged
me so much today and I wanted to encourage you as well. The devotional will be
coming from Joshua 1: 1-9. (HCSB)
1 After the death of Moses the Lord’s servant, the Lord spoke to Joshua son
of Nun, who had served Moses: 2 “Moses My servant is dead. Now
you and all the people prepare to cross over the Jordan to the land I am giving
the Israelites. 3 I have given you every place where the sole
of your foot treads, just as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory
will be from the wilderness and Lebanon to the great Euphrates River—all the
land of the Hittites—and west to the Mediterranean Sea.5 No one
will be able to stand against you as long as you live. I will be with you, just
as I was with Moses. I will not leave you or forsake you.
6 “Be strong
and courageous, for you will distribute the land I swore to their fathers to
give them as an inheritance. 7 Above all, be strong and very
courageous to carefully observe the whole instruction my servant Moses
commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or the left, so that you will
have success wherever you go. 8 This book of instruction must
not depart from your mouth; you are to recite it day and night so
that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will
prosper and succeed in whatever you do. 9 Haven’t I commanded
you: be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever
you go.”The first thing that was pressed in my spirit was the fact that Moses had died. Moses was a great leader and many people looked up to him. Think about it, God gave him, specifically, the 10 commandments to give to the people. So I figure that when he died, it was pretty devastating for everyone. Now for Joshua, knowing that he had the responsibility to take on the load of leading everyone, the old task of Moses, I’m pretty sure he felt overwhelmed and under qualified to do such a task. And immediately out the gate, God gave him the task of leading the people over the Jordan river into a new land. Not only did God want Joshua to lead, he gave him a huge task right from the jump. God knew that Joshua’s flesh was weak and prone to be discouraged, so He reminded him THREE times, to be very strong and courageous! He continuously comforted him by telling him, that He would always be there. He would not forsake him. He tells Joshua to not be discouraged because He will be with him, wherever he goes.
For me many times, when I am made known of a new opportunity or God has placed me in a new position, I look forward to being able to be eased into my role….not jumping in head first. The ladder of the two has been happening with me currently in graduate school. Many things, such as the magnitude of class work, being an intern, and being a research assistant thus far has made me feel like I’m jumping head first into things that hold great weight. I’ve been very unsure of my ability and knowledge to perform in these positions due to my “lack of training” in these areas. This experience has been very overwhelming for me at times and has made me question my ability and qualification for even being in graduate school. However, I am so thankful to God that He chose me to complete this task specifically. God chose me and tells me to be strong and courageous. It is not God’s will for me to be afraid, overwhelmed, frustrated, or unsure of myself. God told me that He is with me. He will NEVER leave me or forsake me. God has granted me this opportunity and equipped me for the journey. God reminds me to stand firm on His word and not lean to the left or the right, but be solid and stay on a straight path. In order to have success, God tells me to absorb the entire Word and recite it day and night. I must stay focused and consistent in my quiet time with Him and learning the Word. Only then will I prosper and succeed. God knows in this journey of school, things may LOOK frightening, unobtainable, overwhelming, and stressful BUT God has already given me every place where my foot trots. Simply by granting me admission into graduate school, God has given me the degree-- I just have to go through the motions to receive it.
God also comforts my feelings when He reminds me that no one will be able to stand against me as long as I live! No one or nothing! Even when I feel attacked by others, I must remember that God is with me and no one can STAND against me. People can be against me all day, but they can’t STAND. You might be against me but you’re not standing! I may dislike that you are against me, but the thing is, I’m standing. And standing on the Word of God! What a solid foundation!
I just love the Word and how God is speaking directly to my weakness and reminding me to stay strong and courageous! He tells me that THREE times in the scriptures. That’s just amazing in itself. All God has to do is speak a thing one time and it is. (Let there be…. And it was…). However, God loves me SO much and knows my flesh is SO weak and easily dismayed that He reminds me and speaks to my spirit Three times and tells me to be strong and very courageous! Man that thang ministered to me! I was feeling so overwhelmed and feeling like I wanted to give up over the past few weeks, pertaining to school, but God’s sweet words to me are simply: Be strong and very courageous! I’m not to fear school, if I couldn’t do it, God wouldn’t have put me here! I graduated from UNC with HONORS, so of course God will help me graduate successfully from a Master’s program at my alma mater! Why am I worried? Why am I concerned?! God is with me! I don’t have to fret! Everything that I do is for God’s glory! Will He make Himself out to be a mockery? NO. So why would He put me in a place to fail?? He wouldn’t! Just as Joshua was promised his land would reach from the wilderness and Lebanon to the great Euphrates River…God will allow my reach and my ministry to far exceed my life goals that I have written. God has greater for me! This program and this place that I’m in now is only a preview to the GREATER that is to come! I thank God so much! He is so great and He loves me so much! He’s my best friend, my provider, my healer, my savior, my way maker, my counselor, my corrector, my peace, my EVERYTHING. God is everything to me! Thank you Jesus!
Prayer: DADDY, I’m so glad you love me. Man, you’re so great! Thank you for the Bible and thank you for leading me to this scripture passage today. It’s soooo cool that you think so much about me that you care when I feel overwhelmed. Lord, thank you for ministering to me and saying exactly what I needed to hear, even when I couldn’t verbalize my need to anyone else. Lord, I also thank you for the people around me who continuously encourage me. God, sometimes I feel that I’m not supposed to let others know I’m in need of encouragement, since I’m usually the one they seek for encouragement, but God, I thank you for sending those people my way….even when I don’t ask for them. God I love you and I want to be in a relationship with you forever! Thank you for never forsaking me and for promising to always be with me! You’re so cool and I love you. In Jesus name, amen.
