Be Strong and Courageous

My good friend Paul reminded me of my “why”? As I set out on my journey to write 31 blogs this month, he asked me to write my goal for these 31 blogs. My answer: to encourage everyone with God’s Word.

 

As long as I can remember, in every stage of my life, there has always been a person that encouraged me to not give up and to keep moving forward – to keep my faith and trust in God. Whether it was my parents, siblings, wife, teachers, friends, mentors, there has always been someone who encouraged me. At the same time, there were also those who, well, always tried to put me down and sometimes they succeeded. The list can be similar to those who encouraged me.

 

My favorite verse when I was a teenager and still to this day is from Joshua 1:9, it says,

 

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous.
Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

 

The context to this passage is this, Moses, the great leader of the Old Testament recently died. Moses led Israel out of the slavery of Egypt. Joshua was Moses’ aide when he was alive. Now God was calling Joshua to lead the people of Israel to the Promise Land. The Bible doesn’t tell us whether Joshua was nervous or anxious about this new role. I would guess he was – at least I know I would be. Up to this passage we hear God speak and His words are words of encouragement to Joshua. Be Strong! Be Courageous! Do not be afraid. Do not be dismayed. Why? Because the Lord your God is with you wherever you go!

 

That’s a great promise from God. I experienced that promise in my short years of existence. Looking back, I can see that God has been with me in those challenging times and especially in those dark moments when I thought He wasn’t there. This is not because I am so great. This is because He is faithful to His promises. I don’t contribute anything to the great love that He has for me.

 

My friends, He loves you the same way!

 

I encourage you to look back 5 or 10 years into your life and see where God has been there helping you be strong and courageous. Taking away your fears and holding you together. Looking back on your life will help you see those moments where God has been there with you, oftentimes, going ahead of you. This in turn will give us the courage to look into the future knowing that God will continue to be faithful to His promises. He will never leave us, nor forsake us.

 

I pray, as my good friend Wayne Burt prayed in the comment of my previous blog, “I pray to ever follow His Commandments to abide in His Love and Protection throughout this year.”
Be Strong and Courageous my friends!

 

PS. Thanks for reading this blog. This is the second blog of 31 that I will be writing this month. I encourage you to come back to my website to read the next blog. These blogs will be written both in English and Spanish. Click here to read blog #1.

 

 

Credits: Photo by Michael Skok on Unsplash