What is God calling you to be and do? I did not get the structure of that last sentence wrong. I believe we must be what God wants us to be, then we can't help but do what He wants us to do. Is what He is calling you to be scary? I hope so because this would mean that you can't do it without His help.
Joshua received a call that was much bigger than himself as he was to lead the children of Israel into the long awaited Promised Land. Forty years before they were to walk into the Promised Land, Joshua saw it with his own eyes and was ready to go. But, 10 men were too afraid and told the children of Israel that they should not go. The nation of Israel chose to listen to 10 people and as a result the walked around the desert for 40 years and had to bury 1+ million people.
Fast forward 40 years and Joshua is ready to go back. The Father says to the nation of Israel through Joshua, "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go" (Josh. 1:9).
The first thing that we see in this verse is that God had commanded them. Go back to my first question, what does the Father want you to be? The answer to this question is a command from God. As a result of the command that He gave to the nation of Israel and to us, we can be strong and courageous. We do not need to tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord our God is with us wherever we go.
The passage does not say that it will always be easy. If you don't think Joshua did not have to deal with some complaining, you are crazy. Can you imagine a million people asking, "Are we there yet?" If we chose to follow God's commands, we will encounter difficult times. But, we know that He is with us wherever we go. He does not promise to make it easy, but He does promise to walk with us.
Father, thank you for calling us to be Your followers. Please give us the courage to walk in obedience and to experience You in new ways when it gets difficult.
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