#FEARLESS365 | JOSHUA 1:9 – Defying Shadows

#FEARLESS365 is a yearlong study of God’s commandment to us to live without fear. For 365 days, we will focus on one scripture and volunteers from all over the world will share their personal thoughts and what God has shared with them on the specific verse. For more info… go here.

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Joshua 1:9

In Joshua 1:9, God delivers one of the greatest rhetorical questions in the Bible: “Have I not commanded you?” Let that phrase sink in for a moment. The all-powerful and sovereign God, the great “I AM”, issued the command. It was His will. Why should anybody doubt that it would be carried out?

God could have left things with just that statement, but He takes things further: “Don’t be afraid. I’m going to be with you as you carry out My will.” I don’t know about you, but I always read this in the tone of a father trying to coax his child to ride a bike. I get such a sense of great caring and comfort from the rest of these statements.

So what exactly does that mean for us today?

We know that God is able to do great things through us. We read about these things all through Acts. But often, when we feel that God is calling us to a great task, we balk. We get scared. We think, “This will never work.” Or maybe we act like Gideon in the Old Testament and question if God has even got the right person, “But I’m a nobody in the middle of Nowhere, Georgia. What can I really do?”

We get so caught up in our fear of what we can’t do that we miss out on what God can do. God has a plan for all of His followers. That includes me and it includes you. When He calls us, we need to remember that we haven’t been given a spirit of fear.

“Be strong and courageous, for I am with you wherever you go.”

Remember, if God calls you to do something, then you cannot fail.