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.” Joshua1:9 (NIV)
Due to recent circumstances, I found myself feeling really discouraged and fearful. I have to confess, I even doubted God’s heart for me. I dug into these feelings and what I realized is that my fear was connected to not fully trusting God, and to not quite following God’s command…. Yikes!
Joshua 1:9 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.” (NIV). As I studied this passage, it revealed some interesting things to me about the situation I was in and who I was choosing to be.
Firstly, I realized that I was stuck in a pattern of fear and doubt rather than trusting God. The TLB translation of Joshua 1:9 says, “Yes, be bold and strong! Banish fear and doubt!” So wait…. I can get rid of fear and doubt just like that, banish it from my existence? Well, no, not really, I can’t wave a wand and voila! fear and doubt are banished! I can’t… But God’s power CAN. Every time I am fearful, every time doubt tries to creep in, I can confess it to God and declare His truth in my life.
The other thing I realized is God has “commanded” me to be strong and courageous… I love the way the GNT version puts is, “Remember that I have commanded you to be determined and confident!” God’s commands are always aligned to my true identity in Him. But I have to CHOOSE to BE what He says I am: remember the command and follow it. To help me remember what God commands me to be, I reflected on various translations of Joshua 1:9, and I came up with CBDs (no, not that kind!). You can choose your CBDs too – that is, choose to be Courageous and Confident, Bold, Determined and Strong!
The reality is, I may not always be able to prevent myself from being D-D-DAFT (discouraged, doubtful, dismayed, afraid, terrified). But, when I feel these emotions I can make a wise choice to NOT be daft! By confessing what I feel to God I can seek His power to stand in who He calls me to be! I’ll take CBDs over D-D-DAFT any day! How about you?
Prayer
Lord, I choose to obey Your command and in the Almighty, powerful name of Jesus, I command fear and doubt to be banished from me. The children of fear and doubt – discouragement, despair, dismay, discontent and all the “dis” family, you are banished too and you no longer have a permanent residence in my life! I declare God’s truth and choose to be who He says I am. I am courageous, confident, bold, determined, and strong. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
