the promised land

Recently I have been reading through Joshua and seeing how God helped His people conquer the land He had promised them centuries before. There are many victories in this book and many miracles but there are also glimpses of fear and disobedience. Near the end of the book when much of the battling is over the remaining tribes of Israel cast lots and divide the land.

Joshua 17 speaks of the people of Joseph complaining to the Joshua that they are a large people and need more land. He points out to them that there are hill lands with great forests that can be conquered and cleared that will more than enough for all their number. The people continue to complain and say that the forest is great, the people are strong and powerful and too difficult to conquer. Joshua once again challenges them and says,
“You are a numerous people and have great power. You shall not have one allotment only, 18 but the hill country shall be yours, for though it is a forest, you shall clear it and possess it to its farthest borders. For you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have chariots of iron, and though they are strong.”

Here are the children of God who have witnessed His incredible faithfulness and provision through the desert and during the many battles in the land of Canaan as they conquered much of the promised land, yet they are doubting and choosing fear instead of taking what God is offering them. There are obstacles in front of them but no more than what they have faced before.

Do you find yourself in a similar situation? You know from past experience that God has been faithful to you or maybe you just have the examples in the Bible and are now faced with your own challenges. You know or hope that there is a blessing on the other side of your forest and terribly strong enemies but fear is great. Will you let fear and obstacles keep you from taking hold of the blessings and promises God has for you? Will you remember He is faithful and will never leave and will give you the strength that is required to get to the promised land? Friend, don't give up before you have started. "We can do all things through Christ who gives us strength." Philippians 4:13.

As I sit here wondering whether this is done and ready for posting, I am thinking that it is not yet done or credible if I don't give you a personal example. But it seems that I have used my story over and over again and do you want to hear it again? Will it really be helpful? There have been many challenges that I have faced over the years, some big and some small, each scary in their own way. In the end I have chosen to face my fears and trust Jesus to get me through because He promised me abundant life and I don't want to miss any of it no matter how great my fear or problem at the time. Most recently, I was faced with going back into the work force after being a stay at home mom for quite some time. In my profession this proved to be even more of a challenge than in others. I had applied in years past and was turned down and honestly wasn't all that sad. I enjoyed being a stay at home mom. But an opportunity was quite literally dropped into my lap as I was applying for another position. This job had been a long dream of mine that was so old I forgot about it - apparently, Christ hadn't. Because I hadn't worked for so long I was terrified! But I wasn't completely without experience, another job I had been doing gave me some experience for this position but I was stil afraid. Also, this job was full time and not the "pick your day" job I wanted and was available (contingent). But after many tears and prayers, I realized that this was exactly the blessing I had been praying for and I needed to trust God and move forward. I have now been working for two and half years and am now part time. I love my job and the people I work with. God has been faithful to me and given me the ability to help people in amazing ways and be a blessing to them. I am very glad I didn't give into fear and miss out on the many blessings Jesus has given me for this choice.