Thursday, July 28, 2022
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9
Living Afraid
Stepping out in faith is scary. In fact, most of us are probably not living the abundant life that God has for us because of fear. Fear is a normal human emotion, and it can be good and bad. It can warn us when danger is near, so that’s good. But it can also torment us, paralyze us, and hold us back from all the goodness God has for us. Not knowing what the results will be or what comes next is often what keeps us living afraid.
God never really lets us see how it will all work out until we take the step and see it all work out! He gives us one step at a time so every step we take requires us to depend on Him. If we were so certain about it all, then we would not lean on Him so much. He keeps us tethered to Him with the unknowns, for our own good. It’s His plan, His way, and He knows exactly what we need as we need it, including the directions for our next steps and last chapter of the book.
We can trust Him. He is our safe place and anything He leads us to do in life will be for our very best. It won’t always be easy, and at times we will be afraid. Out of that fear we can find freedom in trusting Him, because living afraid was never His plan for any of us.
One of my favorite stories is that of the Children of Israel on the banks of the Jordan when they were finally ready to go into the promised land. The promised land was just across the river, but the river was a flood stage and running rapidly. Everything God had promised was just on the other side - but they had to cross the river first. Joshua’s message to them was that the living God is with you, and He will not fail, and because He is with you He will part the waters and make a way.
And Joshua said, “Here is how you shall know that the living God is among you and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites. Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing over before you into the Jordan. Now therefore take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, from each tribe a man. And when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap.” Joshua 3:10-13
We may not have the ark of the Lord, but we have the living God with us every second of every day. I cannot imagine what it would have been like to see the waters part, and though we may not get such tangible examples in our lives day to day, God is parting waters for you and I all the time.
What is it that keeps you living afraid? What do you need to surrender to Him so you can live freely and abundantly? We don’t have to live afraid because we can trust. We don’t have to fight the tether that keeps us bound to Him but be thankful for it. When we seek Him, His plan, and His will for our lives and surrender freely, we can live in the security and safety of His love.
LC
