There are verses we use and see all the time. They are on notebooks, knick-knacks, and t-shirts. One of them is Joshua 1:9. It says, 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.
There is so much truth in this one verse. Seriously. So much truth. But today, God opened my eyes to an important part of the context of that verse. You see, Joshua was on the brink of entering the promised land as the successful leader of the nation of Israel.
And he was afraid. Over and over again God had to tell Joshua to be “strong and courageous”.
I find that comforting. Because as you’ve probably heard me say, I’m scared. Healing is intimidating. It’s frightening. It’s threatened to paralyze me. Recovering from a long-term illness is so much harder than I ever imagined it would be. Harder, more painful, and scarier.
I keep thinking, “But, I’ve longed for this for so long, shouldn’t I be overjoyed with no negative emotions? Healing means my sickness has come to an end! Healing means I’m exiting the tunnel and stepping into the light! Healing should be all good, right? I see all the people around me still in the throes of sickness and not knowing when or if healing will come . . . how dare I struggle with healing?” Here, the promised land–the promised healing–is before me, and I am all but dragging my heels as I enter it. I cling to the entrance of the tunnel, blinded by the sun. I’m afraid.
But Joshua was afraid, too. How comforting! But He obeyed God and stood in the power, authority, and courage God gave him . . . commanded of him. Of us. He does not leave us, He will stand with us, He will go behind and before us. His Word will not depart from our mouths, and His promises come through. We should not be discouraged, for God is with us wherever we go . . . and for Joshua, that “wherever you go” was the promised land. For me right now, it’s navigating healing.
That isn’t to say that the journey won’t be hard, or won’t hurt. I can testify that healing is both painful and hard. Joshua’s entrance into the promised land was accompanied by battle after battle. It wasn’t just moving in and settling down, but purging the land as God has commanded. War, fighting, blood, suffering.
Plus, Joshua was the leader of a nation, not to mention a warrior. It wasn’t easy. And it took a giant amount of courage. But God never left his side. And He won’t leave ours either. The battle may be hard, whatever you are facing, but God is right there fighting with us… for us. (See Exodus 14:14.)
No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. 6 Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. 7 “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 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 1:5-9
Sara, this post and truth are powerful! Thanks for sharing what God has taught you! As soon as I started reading your post, I said, “Wow,” and I’m amazed. Because like you, I never thought about the verse and my life with regard to the context. I’ve been in the desert and applied the verse to the desert, but I never thought about it with regard to the equivalent of the promised land in my life.
I’m embarking on healing, like you, and like you (though differently), I’m realizing it has been and will be very hard. Maybe I used to assume it would be gradual and easy, getting better and better, but it isn’t. 😉 (I’m also realizing I don’t know how to heal, even though the time has come.)
It’s very comforting to think of Joshua and the Israelites entering the promised land as analogous to my life! Because like you said, they had battles, and it was hard, not easy. But they were given victory and peace after it all.
Thanks for opening my eyes to this dimension of the verse! It’s essential but easy to miss. 🙂
Thank you for this post! I think it’s great that you applied biblical times to the present!
Thank you for reading! I’m glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
Sara, thank you for this. I’m in the midsts of my own healing journey with my chronic headaches after dealing with them for so long and you are right, it is SO scary. You wrote down my own thoughts that I was too afraid to show others because, as you said, how dare I be scared of healing when others are struggling so much? *hugs* Thank you for this girly and I can’t wait to see more of these posts from you. <3
Thank you so much for commenting! *hugs* I’m glad I’m not the only one… I write these things, and click publish and then panic that maybe I am the only one with these struggles and fears. XD I look forward to sharing more!