photos by: JODIE BRIM CREATIVE
Life has a way of sucker-punching us, doesn’t it? The hardest part is when the punches just keep coming…from every direction…before we can even catch our breath. After a while, it seems like a pile-on, and “overwhelmed” is all we feel!
Then, the whispering in our ears gets LOUD, insisting that nobody understands and nobody cares. (I hear you.)
One of the greatest leaders of all time passed the torch to a new generation. But, Joshua didn’t think he could carry on without his iconic mentor. Talk about feeling overwhelmed! Moses had passed; Joshua was on deck! Batter up!
God knew Joshua was shaking in his boots. The whisperings got boisterous in his head, telling him all the reasons this could never work. His mind rehearsed all the reasons he could never measure up. (Sound familiar?!)
God, in His Goodness, spoke very emphatically to Joshua, saying, “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.” (Joshua 1:5 NKJV)
THAT’S quite the promise! NO MAN can take you out? For ALL your days? Just as the Lord stood with the Pioneer, He’ll stand with you…not going anywhere…by your side all the way?! WOW!
It’s as if God is shooting courage into the spine of this new leader who wonders if he’s got what it takes. But, this is NOT just some pep talk…
If God says so, it ALWAYS IS so!
The Everlasting Father never gives us false hope!
God’s Promises over your life are NOT inevitable, but they are surely possible!
The Lover of our soul constantly reveals what can happen when we walk where He leads. Y’all! NO ONE could stand against Joshua all the days of his life! FOR REAL!
God then says to Joshua what He says more than 100 times in Scripture: “I will not leave you or forsake you.” But, aren’t “leave” and “forsake” kind of the same thing? Actually, they’re not.
When someone “leaves” you, they PHYSICALLY walk away. Maybe your heart knows that pain. My daddy left my mama with four small children. As a little girl, that “leaving” changed the whole trajectory of my life. EVERY PART!
God lovingly healed my devastated and confused heart. Without a mending only the Healer can bring, the sting of rejection lingers and even intensifies, doesn’t it?
However, “forsaking” describes someone EMOTIONALLY checking out of the relationship. Their heart turns away and their feelings flatline, even while they remain in close proximity to you. (Oh, the ache!)
Some of you know EXACTLY what it’s like to live with someone who has forsaken you. They emotionally detach from the relationship even as you continue to co-exist, sometimes in the same house.
God knows that wound that keeps bleeding. (He can heal it, too! I promise He can!)
Friend, God is like NOthing or NOone else in our living! He’s completely OTHER! He cannot leave us. He will not forsake us. Why? Because He said so, so the prospect is utterly impossible!
His Heart toward you sticks it out, even as we lose our stickability toward Him. Sometimes we lose our way. Our devotion wanes. But His doesn’t. As we take Him at His Word and follow where He leads, He becomes our front-guard, rear-guard and our wrap-around shield. He leads us into territories entirely too big for us but never too big for HIM!
No matter what you’re facing or how stuck you feel, God is sticking it out with you. He’s not checking out emotionally, and He’s surely not packing His bags! When you feel forsaken or left behind, the One who adores you and calls you His own just keeps staying the course, through it all! For comments or prayer, please contact Dr. Lanier at HopeCommunityChurch.tv.
