Day Nineteen: It Isn't Brave if You Aren't Scared

Today's passage comes from Joshua 1.

READ: Joshua 1:1-9

After the death of Moses the servant of God, God spoke to Joshua, Moses' assistant:

"Moses my servant is dead.  Get going.  Cross this Jordan River, you and all the people.  Cross to the country I'm giving to the People of Israel.  I'm giving you every square inch of the land you set your foot on--just as I promised Moses.  From the wilderness and this Lebanon east to the Great River, the Euphrates River--all the Hittite country--and then west to the Great Sea.  It's all yours.  All your life, no one will be able to hold out against you.  In the same way I was with Moses, I'll be with you.  I won't give up on you; I won't leave you.  Strength!  Courage!  You are going to lead this people to inherit the land that I promised to give their ancestors.  Give it everything you have, heart and soul.  Make sure you carry out The Revelation that Moses commanded you, every bit of it.  Don't get off track, either left or right, so as to make sure you get to where you're going.  And don't for a minute let this Book of The Revelation be out of mind.  Ponder and meditate on it day and night, making sure you practice everything written in it.  Then you'll get where you're going; then you'll succeed.  Haven't I commanded you?  Strength!  Courage!  Don't be timid; don't get discouraged.  God, your God, is with you every step you take."

THINK:  "Is embracing these words in your life hard or easy?  At what times are you scared?  Why?  When you are fearful, what can you do about it?"

PRAY:  "Be blatantly honest with God about your fears, worries, concerns, and anxieties.  Tell him exactly why you are scared, and be assured that he hears you.  Thank him for listening.  Then reread the passage, personalizing the words by making God's words to Joshua your very own."

LIVE:  "When you find yourself in situations that expose your fears, remember the promises of God--his presence and his guidance for you into the future."

Many times over the past three years, I have found myself worried, anxious, and afraid; those fears and worries and anxieties have intensified a lot over the past year.  I was made aware of this when I was in Lynchburg for my counseling classes.  But one thing that I came to see while I was away was that, those worries and fears and anxieties did not have to control my life.  I could have all the feelings I was having and still be obedient.  I could have all those feelings, feel them all fully, and still walk in faith that God was going to take care of me because He said so.  Being obedient didn't make me feel less afraid.  And admitting I was afraid did not paralyze me.  I was telling a friend recently that I felt like I had not been walking in faith over the course of this past year because I wasn't feeling brave.  She flat-out rejected what I was saying.  She said that, in fact, she had seen me walking in faith, pressing into the Lord and to our church body.  She informed me that what she was hearing was a girl who wished her feelings lined up with her walk.  She was absolutely right.  But, wishing that my feelings lined up with my faith did not negate that I had faith.  I came to see that I had believed a lie:  the lie that says "if you don't feel it, it can't be real." 

Perhaps that is the very reason that the words "fear not" or "be of good courage" appear no less than 365 times in scripture.  Far too often, I have let fear paralyze me into inaction, to stifle my faith.  Realizing that I only wished I felt what I believed was an eye-opener for me.  I have the faith.  I have taken several steps that have been come from a place of faith without even realizing it because I have been so scared.  But, as a movie I once watched said,

 "It isn't brave if you aren't scared."