Deeper Longings with Trent
14 July 2020
If you had told me at the beginning of this pandemic that I would be sitting here in June clinging on to God’s words to be “strong and courageous”, I’m not sure I would have believed you. I might have said “What is so hard about a few months of sitting inside? Sounds relaxing.” But the pandemic did not deliver on that promise. Among many challenges that have surfaced, family health concerns back home in the US have weighed heavily on me. Untimely and inaccessible, they have prevented the time of peace that I had hoped for. Spiritually and physically, they have forced me to my knees. If this admission sounds natural, it is not. One of the greatest challenges of the last few months has been humbling myself before God to admit that I desperately need him during this time. And so, Joshua 1 has been my lifeline over the last few weeks. Verses 6 to 9 say:
“Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 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.”
Three times the Lord says to Joshua, “be strong and courageous”. This is not a mistake. Each time has a different instruction, and we can learn from each one. First, God calls us to act in alignment with his plan. Second, God calls us to be obedient to him and trust his word. And third, he reassures us that he will be with us wherever we go. Through these verses, God revealed to me how this suffering fits into his plans for me and how I must respond and trust him. So my assurance to us today is that, while this pandemic has brought fear and dismay for many of us, God has a plan. The Lord our God is with us wherever we go, even when we aren’t going anywhere.
Let me pray. Loving Father, we come to you in this time bearing many burdens and we humble ourselves before you. We ask that you give us an awareness of your plans and provide us the strength and courage to answer your call to action with obedient hearts. We thank you for being a God who loves us enough to carry out your plans for our lives even during a pandemic, and for allowing us to be part of your story. And Lord, we know that there will be pain and suffering, but you promise to walk alongside us. We thank you for sending your son Jesus, who bore the ultimate pain and suffering, our sin and shame, for all of eternity. And today, we put our trust in his promise from Matthew 28. He is with us always, to the very end of the age. We love you and praise you. Amen.