Courage:
Discovering the Trustworthiness of God!!
I was severely impacted by this amazing piece of scripture in the book
of Joshua when I read it this time around! I had seen it before, read it
before, and never have I had it speak to me God’s message in the way it did
this last time. This new, bold confirming revelation from God through this
passage of scripture truly shows me evidence that his word is alive, new every
morning, the living breathing word of God that is accessible to you and me!
This confirms to me again that he is always ready to reveal something new to a
child whose ear is open to his whisper!
I
was having a really rough week a couple weeks back and was pouring myself into
the effort of listening to God’s voice, reading his word, seeking wise counsel,
reading devotionals, and spending undivided time in prayer! I woke up one
morning that week after countless days of seeking God’s face whole heatedly
and was answered with the powerful message of this passage.
Joshua Chapter 3 “Early in the morning Joshua
and all the Israelites set out from Shittim and went to the Jordan, where
they camped before crossing over. 2 After three
days the officers went throughout the camp, 3 giving
orders to the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the Levitical priests carrying
it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. 4 Then
you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before. But
keep a distance of about two thousand cubits[a] between
you and the ark; do not go near it.”5 Joshua told the
people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among
you.”6 Joshua said to the priests, “Take up the ark of
the covenant and pass on ahead of the people.” So they took it up and went
ahead of them.7 And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in
the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with
Moses. 8 Tell the priests who carry the ark of
the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters, go and stand in
the river.’”9 Joshua said to the Israelites, “Come here
and listen to the words of the Lord your
God. 10 This is how you will know that the living
God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the
Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and
Jebusites. 11 See, the ark of the covenant of the
Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you. 12 Now
then, choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. 13 And
as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord—the Lord of all the earth—set foot in the Jordan, its
waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap.”14 So
when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of
the covenant went ahead of them. 15 Now
the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as
the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the
water’s edge, 16 the water from upstream stopped
flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town
called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to
the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So
the people crossed over opposite Jericho. 17 The
priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the
Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole
nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.”
This passage is one that I am so familiar
with! A story I had been taught again and again, since the days of early
childhood Sunday school, I knew it inside and out, and yet God chose to share
it with me in a new way that day, in the way I needed it, at the exact time I
needed!
God’s
heart to let me in on the depth of his love blew me out of the water when I
finished reading this passage and he allowed a verse I had memorized a long
time before to pop into my mind. (Which is one reason why I am so pro scripture
memorization, God really does speak to your heart with it at the perfect time J ) This verse paired
with this passage in such a special way and revealed to me something new!!
*Deuteronomy 31:8 “The Lord himself goes before you and will
be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not
be discouraged.”
**P.S. Wow God has done it again! When I looked up this
verse to add it in to the blog I read it in context (previously I had memorized
it off of a note card my mom gave me) and to my surprise the passage of scripture
was of the moment when Moses was handing over to Joshua the leadership role and
responsibility in trusting Gods promise and going out to conquer and take
possession of the promised land for Israel. This reference is the promise part(Deut
31:8)….and the passage at the Jordan’s edge is God fulfilling it(Joshua Chp3)!
What a cool thing to have had God reveal! To me it just seemed like these
scriptures went together and it was cool, but oh how God one ups us even when
we are thinking our hardest! He brought this scripture to mind even when I
didn’t have the knowledge that was actually such a big part of this story!!**
To continue… This was such a huge blessing to me for God to
allow me to connect the dots of his word! He allowed me to read, recognize, and
REALLY receive from him the gift of his promise to be with us through thick and
thin! He loves us, is with us, protects us, and never leaves us even for a
second! He has promised and we can believe it to be true!!
How
does looking at his promises translate to courage? It is truly seeing God’s
love for us as it REALLY is (full, true, and never ending) and also accepting that he is trustworthy; that
all his promises ring true, that will allow us to grow in our courage.
What prevents us from
taking hold of his truth, his promises, and allowing it to bloom into courage
and abundant life? I think that one possibility could be how we view God. I
think that is fair to say that is easier said than done to be courageous and
trust when we are afraid…especially when some have not had the best experiences
in trusting others. It is sad but sometimes we measure God by the standard of
our human relationships… we take our broken, abandoned, hurt, hearts; hearts stung
by the pain of being left, being harmed when we thought we were safe, lies told
us by a friend, loss of security from a rough childhood, being abandoned,
fatherless/motherless, lonely, teased, the wounded places of our hearts and we deflect that onto God. We see him
through the wrong colored glasses, glasses tainted by our treatment by other
people. We don’t see him as he truly is. Sometimes we think FALSELY we believe
Satan’s lies that God, like others; will
leave, not keep us safe, pull out the rug from under our feet when in all
reality he is the ONLY ONE that has you hemmed in on every side in love safety
and security!
He is God you can trust him!!! Abandon
yourself to the care of The Risen Savior do not hold any part of yourself back
from his loving care and that will transform your courage! Accepting that the
one who created you, the one who was willing to die for your sake, the one who
is fully able and capable to protect, guide, and see you through anything, will
in fact make good on his promises, will take care of you, and will not pull out
the rug from under your feet. We do not have to see him as untrustworthy
because of our life experiences, and what others have done to us; though that
is so easy to do!
Choose
now to take of the jaded colored glasses that cause you to see God not as he
truly is, but rather in the light of how you have been treated by imperfect
humans! He is not human, He is God almighty, He cannot fail, He is with you and
for you, He is trustworthy beyond a doubt, and He will not fail you!! We can have
courage and be secure because as his beloved children we know God is on our
side! That doesn’t mean our lives will be perfect but we can know whatever we
face He is with us and we can have courage because we can 100% trust his
promises are true. Why?? Because his word tells us it is! He has promised us
this; he will never leave us or forsake us! And He never will; he has proved trustworthy
countless times in the Bible and in the testimonies of those still living!! God
is good, He loves you, and you can trust him and come to him for help and
courage in any situation!! He is able even when we are not…in circumstances we
cannot face alone!! We have a BIG God a God of miracles, and nothing is too
hard for him!! Look to him and accept the truth of who he is when you are in
need of courage, and the power and might of our God will fill your soul with a
sense of security! He is capable, he holds you in his hand, and he has GOT YOU!!!
Think about the power of these verses for a moment!!!
The Israelites where faced with a situation far beyond their
power and ability to get past. God had promised them the land and they had to
cross the Jordan to take it, yet it was at full flood stage and had they tried
to cross in their own strength they would have surely drown.
*Joshua 3:8 “Tell the priests who
carry the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters,
go and stand in the river.’”
They believed God’s promise as true they knew that they
would get the land he had promised them and that meant that they must be going to
cross the Jordan somehow. One thing they were sure of was the power of their
God and it was that; that gave them the COURAGE to take the first step of
trust, toes touching the edge of the raging river, and plunging ahead…before
God ever pooled up the water and cleared the way! The trusted Him in the face of
a scary situation and we can too.
*Joshua 3:15-16a“Now the Jordan is at flood
stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the
ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, 16 the
water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great
distance away”
God did it he saw
them though and got them safely across the Jordan into the promised land!!
Moreover, what amazes me most about this passage is God’s
fulfillment of his promise to never leave them!
*Joshua 3:11 “See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will
go into the Jordan AHEAD of you.”
*Joshua 3:17 “The priests who
carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped
IN THE MIDDLE of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel
passed by until the whole nation had COMPLETED the crossing on dry ground.”
Not only did He not leave the people but The Ark (the symbol
of the presence of God) went before them 1st into the river, He
stayed with them in the midst as they all crossed through and He waited until
the very last person had crossed, and then went up out of the river after them!
*Deuteronomy 31:8 “The Lord himself goes BEFORE YOU and will
be WITH YOU; he will NEVER LEAVE YOU nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not
be discouraged.”
God made good on the promise of Deuteronomy 31:8 when he
went before, stayed with, and never left the Israelites as they crossed up out
of the Jordan into the promised land. He had them safeguarded on every side!! That
is something you can trust him for too! He has you covered on every side
because his promise to never leave nor forsake applies to all his children and
if you have accepted him that means YOU!!
These scriptures wowed me in a way
I couldn't imagine; turning my knowledge of God’s trustworthiness, love, and
faithfulness upside down. I have known God and put my trust in him as a young
child but to truly know the depth of his trustworthiness and love for me is
something that is still being revealed to me, wowing me, and surprising me to
this day!
He hems us in! He has got us on all sides! There is not a thing he won’t
do to have your back, your front, your sides ALL of you and he proved that when
he went to the cross to die for you! He surrounds us in safety, security, and
love that we might walk unafraid and boldly through this life; triumphant in
his name!! Will we still see trials? Yes. Will we still have to face
difficultly? Yes. Will we still have to boldly take steps of faith sticking our
toes into the raging river before the water is stopped? Yes. But we can step
forward into the unknown with bold and courageous faith banking fully on the
trustworthiness of our God because he has never failed and he never will!
The
God that saw the Israelites through is the God you are dealing with and just as
he kept every promise made to them he will keep all of his promises to you! You
can trust him! Ever promise and prophecy to date made by our God has come true
this means you can trust His promise of salvation, his promise to return, his
promise that he is preparing a place for us in heaven….his every word spoken to
you through the Bible to also come true!!
*Joshua 23:14 “Now I am about to go the way of all the earth.
You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the
Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one
has failed.”
We can know God always comes through on his
promises because he says it is in his word and we know his word is true, we even
HOPE that he will do the same for us, but for some of us it is hard to accept
that his love, his trustworthiness, his power is true to the same degree for US!
God’s love his
trustworthiness and power is something that can be yours, a thing he meant for
you not just people in Bible times, not just your neighbor who God really came
through for that one time NO! God is the same yesterday today and always he is
the same God now as he was then and he is just as trustworthy and values you
just as much as any other person that ever lived! You are special you are loved
and he is extending all that he is to YOU!
His love of you is
sooo GREAT sometimes it is hard to grasp even if you have been a Christian for
a looong time. Look to his word and his promises to speak the truth of his love
to your heart that you might begin to understand the depth of his love for
you!! Just take him at his word! Trust his love, his care, his undivided
watchful eye over you and me, his complete and total love, his protective
unending valuing love, carried out not just to this fruition of a task but
rather above and beyond making sure no stone is left unturned! He is with you
in all things! He goes above and beyond keeping his promises of love and
security to the point that you can barely even grasp the concept of his undying
affection for you…. And it is that that we must grab a hold of to gain our
courage from. It is in his never ending trustworthiness his ability to never
fail you that is where the source of true courage lies.
Grab a hold of who our God is!! Cling to the truth of his
love, his trustworthiness and in that we can be fearless, we can have courage,
and we can live a life of abundance, walking boldly through life in the Name of
Jesus!!! Hallelujah!!!!
Thank you wonderful friends for reading this post on courage I hope it boosts up your spirit encouraging you to lean on God in times of trouble; knowing He is fully able to help you!! If you have any prayer requests I am only a comment, text, or FB message away! Have a blessed day and I look forward to next post!!
Please feel free to check out my beauty blog a new post is up http://brookehoffmanbeauty.blogspot.com/
It is a hair tutorial inspired by Disney's Rapunzel!!!
