What would your life look like if you lived each day believing God?  Not just believing IN Him, but really believing God’s promises?  Would your life look different?

That’s the question I’ll be asking myself for the next 31 days.  God’s Word is filled with promises that he has made to his people.  I’ll explore one promise each day.

DAY 1-

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My kids came home from church this week with this verse listed on the program.

I’m a little nerdy-so whenever I consider a Bible verse, I like to learn it’s context first.

This particular verse is at the very beginning of Joshua.  Moses (God’s chosen leader to lead the Israelites out of Egypt) has just died.  God is now giving a little bit of a pep talk to Joshua.  He’s giving him the ins and outs of what he expects as Joshua leads the Israelites into the promised land.  He’s reiterating his promises to remain with his people and with Joshua.  He’s reminding Joshua to meditate on God’s word day and night-in order to keep the law.

What I found interesting about the context of this particular verse is that it’s the third time in this chapter that God is telling Joshua to “be strong and courageous” as he leads the Israelites into the promised land.

God’s people are just about to reach the land they’ve been hoping and waiting for for over 40 years.  40 years in the desert no less.  This is the big moment…and God has to keep repeating “be strong and courageous”.

Why in the world would Joshua need to be strong and courageous?  He’s about to hit the good life-right?

I think God’s reminders in Joshua to “be strong and courageous” are a small reminder that we should never sit back and rest on our laurels.  There will always be work that God has called us to do.   Part of the joy of serving this awesome, amazing God is that he invites us to participate in the work he is doing all around us.

And that takes courage.  And it takes strength.

We must constantly keep our eyes on God-because he will invite us to step out of our comfort zone and into dangerous territory.  He will invite us to hang with folks who make us uncomfortable.  He will put people in our lives that irritate us, infuriate us, insult us and demean us.  He will put us in situations that scare us.

Just as the Israelites faced a very tangible enemy-the inhabitants of Canaan-we face challenges every day that take courage and strength.

But God promises that he is with us-wherever we go.  WHERE.EVER.

God’s presence in those scary moments means we can carry on.  We can take one more step.

Be Strong and courageous-The Lord your God will be with you wherever you may go.

Amen.