Joshua 1:9 AMP‬‬

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not be terrified or dismayed (intimidated), for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

I was reading Joshua 1 and I got to the verse above 1:9. As often happens when I am reading the Bible a word jumped out at me. The word was 'be'. I thought to myself what does 'be' mean? I know that Hamlet questioned this in his Shakespeare play. But what does it mean?

I first got out the Oxford English Dictionary and this defines it as - 'Be: to exist'. Now this troubled me because, unlike you I'm sure, I don't always feel strong. Sometimes I am not strong at all, for instance when I'm not well!

So I decided to dig a little deeper and had a look in my Strong's concordance. This says 'to be strong' is the original word chazaq. 'Chazaq' means to 'to strengthen, prevail, harden, be strong, become strong'.

So now I thought let's look a little more at the verse. A little further on it says "Do not be terrified or dismayed". The original word for 'do not' is 'al' and 'be terrified' is 'arats' which literally means 'do not be terrified'! So no big help there!

But then it hit me, the difference between 'be strong' and 'don't be terrified' is, there is a choice. The verse finishes with "for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go". The choice is to look at, think on, worry about, that thing that causes fear OR to look at God and be strengthened because the Creator of the universe is with you!

So now you know you have a choice, what will you choose to 'be'?

If you’re anything like me I only charge my phone if the battery is under 10% and in the red. When that happens I notice my phone doesn’t work as well - the apps open slower, things take longer until finally the screen goes blank and I can’t use the phone any more. What if instead of waiting for the battery to get all the way down, I decided to charge it when it got to 50%.

This week God has been talking to me about being more aware of when I need to recharge. I tend to treat my body like my phone, and wear it out until I am in the red and then have a burn out. I rush around all day and expect my body to perform when I haven’t made any time to recharge.

Recently I have started to notice the warning signs and try to catch myself before I hit the bottom. God know this about us and He tells us in his Word about how important rest is. Even God himself rested on the seventh day; which just goes to show that if the creator of the universe needs to rest then so do you.

Here are a few verses to encourage you:

• God rests from His work (Genesis 2:2-3)

• Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy (Exodus 20:8-10)

• I will go with you and give you rest (Exodus 33:12-14)

• You make me dwell in safety (Psalm 4:8)

• He makes me lie down in green pastures (Psalm 23:2-3)

• I would fly away and be at rest (Psalm 55:4-8)

What does rest look like? I think it can take the form of many things. For some it would be out in creation taking in the beautiful sights of a fresh day, for others it’s being soaked in a worship song that refreshes your soul, maybe it’s something creative like sewing or painting. Whatever it is, make sure you make time to factor in rest. Recharge before you hit red. God needs us to be those who look after our body, mind and spirit so that we can be effective for His kingdom!

As I was praying this morning and asking God what to share, I told him that I desired to share something that would have an impact, something that would bless his church.

Then I began to disqualify myself to God, bringing to mind my short comings; I haven’t spent enough time in the word or seeking your presence recently, I haven’t always prioritised you as you ask me to. But then straight away, I felt a strong sense from the Holy Spirit saying:

“Hold on! Stop right there! Don’t try to disqualify yourself when I have deemed you qualified”

It was a feeling/inner knowledge but these are the best words I can use to describe what I felt he was saying to me.

I believe the Lord is saying this to me and also to you today; it is his pleasure to use you and his only requirement is your willingness to be used by him.

Llew and Sarah shared wonderfully on Sunday their journey of trusting God, waiting for Him and then seeing His faithfulness to them. One statement that stood out to me was ‘In the wait, we chose faith, not fear’. That phrase has stuck with me, as it emphasised to me that’s it’s still my choice not to give in to negative thoughts of fear, the what ifs and the unbelieving voices that so often surround us.

Fear is a liar, the ‘what if’s’ rarely happen and the negative voices rarely ever have our best interests in mind, so why should we listen to them? Whereas the one who made the promise, has proven faithful and true throughout the ages, he knows the end from the beginning and his love for you and me is unwavering, everlasting and sealed in the blood of His Son.

It makes sense to choose faith, so why do we struggle to choose it? Fear is a liar and the first lie it utters is that you can’t really break free of it. It’s a lie. His perfect love casts out ALL fear. Our weapons have divine power to cast down every argument and take captive every thought. (2 Cor 10:4-5). I have over the years discovered this to be true. Starving out the negative weakens it’s grip, choosing faith exposes the lies and they become easier to ignore.

You have the power to choose faith in God and His promises. Even when the wait continues, faith opens the door to His presence and perspective, which is a far far better place than where fear takes you! You can make the choice today, now, for he who promised is Faithful.