Courage

For my Old Testament class we were to write a paper comparing our life story to a story in the Old Testament. I had the hardest time decideding who to compare mine to. But of course God always comes through at the right time. He provided me with a person to compare my story too. As you will read, I compared my story to Joshua's. I knew of Joshua but not his whole story, so I was glad to learn about him in class. I am turning this paper in on Friday so as you read it if you have suggestions, I will gladly take them. For those of you who know my story, I hope you agree with me in that his story is like mine. For those of you who don't know my story, here is a small portion of a much bigger picture. I hope you enjoy this blog post and thank you for reading my blogs. And remember these words aren't mine, they are God's. I'm just the messenger. Enjoy! :)

Courage; the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc. without fear.  Courageous; possessing or characterized by courage.  Many people in my life that I look up to or consider role models are ones who are courageous. My mom is one of courage. My dad is one of courage. My grandpa is courageous in his life. My grandma is another one who is courageous herself. They all make me want to be a courageous person when I am on my own.  But sometimes I wonder if I have what it takes to be one who has courage. I fear so many things; will I make the right decisions? Will I marry the right person? Will I be in the right career. The people I consider courageous all have seemed to answer those questions correctly without any fear at all. But one reason I think all four of those people, and so many others, are so courageous is because they have heard the story of Joshua.

            Joshua was a man of God. After Moses died, God instructed Joshua to go to a new place. He gave him simple instructions and knew that Joshua would obey them, even if Joshua didn’t know what was going to happen. He just obeyed God because he wanted to and knew he should. With so many stories in the Bible, I am always wondering what the character first thinks when God gives them some crazy task to handle. Do they think, oh no, what if I can’t follow through? Or do they think, isn’t there someone better for this task? In this particular story, I wonder what Joshua was thinking when God first came to him saying, “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over the Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel” (Joshua 1:2). If I were Joshua I would have thought, “Are you kidding me God, I have to follow after Moses footsteps. That’s crazy. But that’s God for you, making us go out of our comfort zone and challenge us more than we want to be. Whenever I am feeling stressed or overwhelmed, I always need to take time to myself and just take a breath to relax myself. Those times when I feel relaxed is when I feel the presence of God so strong, as if He is standing behind me rubbing my shoulders, saying it’s going to be okay, calm down Alex. After that I feel so much better, as if I could accomplish anything.  As you read farther down in chapter one of Joshua, I feel like it is the moment in Joshua’s life where he just took that deep breath and felt God’s presence telling him everything will be okay. The verse reads, “Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous.” (Joshua 1:5b-6) (Let out relieved breath.) It is crazy how at the time one needs God’s the most, is the time He shows up and makes everything seem so simple. It’s just how great God is, always present.

             I never related my story to any character in the Bible, so I was struggling to think of one when I learned we had too. But then God knew I was struggling and sent me a message through a class. As Joshua was being described and as we were reading the beginning of his story, I felt the connection. My story is similar to Joshua’s. No, God didn’t ask me to take people to a new land, but the words of encouragement God sent to Joshua are a lot like ones I, myself, have heard God teaching me. “I will never leave you or forsake you.” As I have started a new chapter in my book of life, I don’t think I have ever seen God so evident in my life. In my high school years, I always knew God was with me wherever I went, but now as I am in college so many times I can actually see Him doing awesome things for different people or even for me. It’s hard to put the feeling in words, but so many times I will be talking to a friend about different things that are happening and a realization comes over me that it wasn’t just a coincidence, but it was all a God thing, or a Godcidence. I will then find myself thinking, wow God was really there throughout the whole time. Before Bethel, I never saw things like that; I just assumed He was always there. Now my eyes are more opened to the great things He can do and will do and is doing just because I want Him to be in control of my life, I don’t want to be in control of my own life. It’s not mine; it’s His. He never will leave me or forsake me every single day, hour, minute, second. He is ALWAYS there, just like He told Joshua He would be.

            But then you read on to probably one of my favorite verses. “Be strong and courageous.” But it doesn’t just say this once; it says it twice, a few verses later. “Be strong and courageous.” God wanted Joshua to be like the definition I wrote about earlier; a person who doesn’t fear. He didn’t want Joshua to fear what God had planned for him. He wanted to be strong and courageous in what was to follow. So many times in my life when I am scared of what is next, I know God is telling me the same thing. “Alex, be strong and courageous. I know what is next. You have nothing to fear.” (Let our breath.) The God I love that is larger than life and already has my whole life planned out for me when I don’t know where it is going, is telling me to be strong and courageous. He wants me to be strong in my faith. He wants me to fear nothing that is coming ahead because again, He doesn’t leave me or forsake me.  No wonder He is God and I am not.  Right now in my life, I can’t decide what career I want to go into. I have wanted to be a teacher for as long as I can remember, but now I just don’t know. I know God has called me to do something with kids because I find great joy in working with them and interacting with them.  But I can’t decide if teaching is the thing for me and what I want to spend my whole life doing. But then Joshua and his story remind me; “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9) He commanded not only Joshua, but me to remember I have to be strong and fear nothing because God is with me no matter what. No matter what. No matter if I have no idea where I am going or what I should do, HE IS HERE. Because of Joshua, I now can have peace and know that God is with me. He is going to tell me the right thing to do. I should walk through life being strong and with having courage. By having courage I won’t fear what is ahead, but will instead have faith in God that one day He will show me what to do. I would rather sit here and wait to figure out what to do rather than go against God and discover the wrong thing.

 I want to be one of courage; one that is able to face anything without any type of fear. I shouldn’t have to fear because I know God is with me and He is never going to leave me or forsake me. He wants me to be strong and courageous no matter the circumstances.  In the song “Courageous” by Casting Crown, it says “we were made to be courageous”. We were made to be courageous because God called Joshua to be courageous in the unknown and He wants us to be courageous in our unknown also because He is with us forever and always. If Joshua was courageous, I am pretty sure I can be courageous too. All it takes is a little bit of strength and God of course.

Do you have courage?

:)

"I will bring praise!"

Every Sunday as I stand in church, I can not wait for the songs we sing. Ever since I was younger I loved singing in church because no one can really hear you sing and that is a good thing because I am a horrible singer. When I sing in church it helps me picutre what heaven will be like when all we get to do is bring praise to Jesus for all He has done.
There are certain songs I like to sing during church and certain ones I am not the biggest fan of. Its bound to happen to everyone, right? Sometimes if I'm not familiar with a song, it's hard for me to focus and catch on quick. But then there are some songs, that when they begin I get so cheerful and make sure to clear my voice so I can really get into the song. Weird, I know. I can't help it.
Last week at church we sang one of my favorite songs! I had heard this song over and over again, but until this week, the words have really stood out to me more than they ever have. The song is called the Desert Song. If your not familiar with titles of songs, it goes a little something like this:
"This is my prayer in the desert when all thats within me feels dry. This is my prayer in my hunger in need. My God is a god who provides...." Ringing a bell? If not I'll attach a link so you can listen to it at the end.
Probably one of my favoirte parts of this song is the chorus. It sings, "I will bring praise,  I will bring praise. No weapon formed against me shall remain." This part is one of my favorites just because I have nothing against me, all my sins are taken away because of the death of Christ, why not bring praise? Everything may not be perfect in life or it may not be going the way one wants it to go, but at least we have a life where we don't have to worry about our sins! They are gone! Plus in the good times and bad, we have to bring praise to our Father. He is bringing us to it for a reason to make us stronger in Him. Why not on a daily basis praise Him and thank Him for all He has done and will do for us! :)
The next part goes onto say: "I will rejoice. I will declare. God is my victory and He is here." God is here. He is always here. He will never not be here. How stinkin' awesome is that?!? At times, yeah we aren't going to feel Him or maybe not hear Him, but He is still here. And He is always going to be! He isn't just here, He is our victory too! God sent His only son so that every single one of us could live here on this earth without having to live with our sins. Sometimes its hard to overcome sins, but one doesn't have to do it alone; He is here ready to overcome them with you. How awesome!!!!!!
But then the song gets better...
"All of my life, in every season, You are still God. I have a reason to sing. I have a reason to worship."  God is still God no matter what. No hard time, nothing will ever make Him not God. He is ALWAYS going to be there! Why not sing about Him? Why not give everything we have to the One who will always be there? I have had times of trouble in my life, where I just want to know, why God, why? But you know what, the why doesn't matter. He is still God and that hard time isn't a hard time in God's eyes. Its a challenge from Him to see what you are going to do. Will I say, "this isn't fair, give this trouble to someone else?" Or will I say, "You know what, Thanks God. I needed this. What is your will in all of this?" In every season of life, the good and the bad, He is going to be there. That is why I am going to sing to Him and worship Him. He is the person who is always, and is always going to be there. I know I have said it so many times in this post already, but how awesome!!!!! My, oh my, how I love that man who gave it all for me! :)
I came to a realization that other day that I hadn't blogged in a while. It took me forever to decide what to write about, but then it finally hit me when I heard the song at church; I'll write about the song. I then had a free day and decided to start blogging about it. But when I opened the blank blog, nothing came to mind about what to write. My mind was a desert. I closed my eyes, prayed to ask God what He wanted to write about, and then just started typing. To me I felt like I just kept rambling and nothing made sense. I took a break from it that day, and decided to come back to it today (the following Sunday). Have you ever realized how crazy God works? In chapel on Friday, we only sang one song, and you will never guess what song it was? Yep, the same song I am writing about right now! Crazy, huh? I knew it was meant for me to take a break from this blog just so I could re-hear it (even though I have been playing it on repeat the whole time I was writing about it..haha). As I reheard it, this calming sensation came over me. I felt God's presence and Him telling me, "In every season, I am still God and I am giving you a reason to sing". He sure is giving me things to sing about. This past week I realized how awesome my parents are and how they always have the right things to say. I realized how close I have grown to the new friends I have made at Bethel and how I am able to share so much of my life and love for Christ with them, which I never could with my high school friends. I realized how blessed I am to have such an awesome roommate who I can open up to about anything. These are just a few of the many things I realized about my life this week.
God really is there for me in every season. He is my victory. He gives me something new to sing about every morning. God is my provider. Nothing I have is mine, its all His. He is always here. He'll be there now and forever. He is my reason to worship! I am declaring right now that He is my victory and He is here.
"This is my prayer in the harvest when favor and providence flow. I know I'm filled to be emptied again, the seed I recieve I will sow."
:)



Here's the song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlgUUeQh0CQ

You see what I'm talking about? :)