Wednesday, March 11

Scripture: I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9).

Observation: The Book of Joshua opens with a pep talk from God’s mouth to Joshua’s ears. God is hyping up Joshua like a high school football coach would hype up his team before the championship game. It’s Joshua’s turn to play quarterback, now that Moses is gone. It is Joshua’s burden to lead the Israelites across the Jordan River westward into the Promised Land and straight onto war. Joshua is Commander in Chief of Israel’s army. Their mission is  conquest of the ancient city-states that called the Promised Land home before the Israelites did. What the Israelites would call taking rightful possession of the land, the native inhabitants there would call “invasion.” Joshua knows the odds are stacked against him. The peoples of the land of Canaan are numerous, well-armed, many were taller and larger than the average Hebrew, and the cities were well-protected with high walls. We can imagine Joshua thinking to himself, “I’m set up to fail. There’s no way I can lead these people to victory. We’re doomed.” But the word of the Lord comes to Joshua as it comes to us all when we’re afraid, apprehensive, and anxious: “Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Or in six short powerful words: “Fear not. God is with you.”

Application: The commandment repeated most often in the Bible is, “Fear not. God is with you.” If someone who had never opened a Bible were to ask what the Bible is about, an accurate answer would be, “Fear not. God is with you.” When God told Moses to lead Israel to freedom and Moses was scared, God said, “I am with you.” God says through the prophet Isaiah, “Do not fear for I am with you.” King David writes in Psalm 118, “With the Lord on my side, I do not fear.” The angel Gabriel tells Mary, “The Lord is with you. Don’t be afraid.” The angel tells Joseph, “Don’t be afraid. Mary’s child is Emmanuel, God with us.” Jesus tells the disciples, “Take heart. It’s me. Don’t be afraid.” He tells the disciples at the Last Supper, “Do not be afraid.” He tells the women at the empty tomb. “Do not be afraid.” Paul says in Philippians, “The Lord is near. Do not worry.” The constant major note of the Bible is, “Fear not. God is with you.” The withness of God, God’s presence and solidarity, is God’s answer to fear. We draw our strength and courage, like Joshua, from knowing God is near and will stick with us no matter what.

Prayer:

Yes, I know the correct academic answer to why You put fear in us, so we would fly from danger, fight danger, or freeze so danger would pick on someone else, and that is a good and brilliant move on Your part, hardwiring our bodies to use fear to our advantage. But I quibble with why You allowed fear to be so… consuming. I fear for my kids when they’re not around and if there will be enough money and what if I don’t live up to expectations and will I be found worthy of praise and liking in the real world and in the digital world and what in God’s name will we do if war happens in our backyard and what about gas prices and food prices and have I mentioned the money and don’t get me started on the inadequacy of a twenty-four day for accommodating the mad frenzied angry beehive of my schedule and the irritating itch telling me there’s something important I forgot… like I said, fear is consuming, and why do I feel it so deeply? And now that I feel a bit better, I hear You saying that as deeply as I feel afraid, Your presence goes deeper, down to the cellular level in my bones and blood, so that where I go, You go, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, and not even death shall part me and my loved ones from You: and so, I ask for Your patience and mercy with me, and for gentle assistance in helping me feel Your presence that is truly all-consuming and which runs deeper than my fear. Onward we go: amen.