Don’t worry, I’ve got this.

Imagine that God spoke to you, a bit out of the blue. You knew for certain it was Him. No doubt about it. He said “No one will be able to stand against you, all the days of your life.” NO ONE! Think about it….

It actually happened to someone once. He said it to Joshua, not long before he crossed the Jordan into the land that was promised to Israel. Joshua had grown up with Moses leading the Israelites through the desert after they left Egypt. Joshua had seen men question Moses’ leadership. He had been involved in battles along the way. The Moabite, Midianite and Amorite nations had all come out to fight Israel and been defeated. Joshua was now leader following Moses’ death. And then God spoke to him. How do you think he felt; “No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life, NO ONE….”

In that moment he may have felt as if he could face his future job as leader with absolute confidence. He probably felt completely secure, at peace and perhaps just a tad relieved 😅. How would you have felt?

Joshua knew some of the task ahead. As a young man he had been part of a group who had spied out this promised land. He had seen with his own eyes what a good land it was and also the strength of the opposition. He knew that with God’s help they could easily take the land. The rest of the team of spies, except for Caleb, were full of fear and spread fear among the Israelites. Fear is a powerful force – False Expectations Appearing Real as someone once put it. Fear is putting faith in what Satan would like to plan for us. The nation of Israel put their faith in Satan’s plan for them – defeat, failure, oblivion. Joshua (and Caleb) had faith in God, and weren’t afraid to speak out truth, to be different, to go against the flow of popular opinion.

Now here he was 40 years later, leading the next generation of Israel, and about to cross the Jordan. “NO ONE….” What a promise.

Fast forward a little bit. Joshua is leading his army, marching round the City of Jericho. God had told them what to do. Seemed a bit unusual, but, that’s what God had said to do.

At some point in that week, I guess that Joshua had to go back to God’s promise. There he was, alone at the head of his army, doing something that frankly looked daft, wondering what all the men following him were thinking (would they keep following or rebel?), looking at the mighty walls of Jericho and contemplating the forces lined up inside waiting for their moment……

And I bet Day 7 was the hardest. Marching round the city seven times; a repeat of the whole of the last six days. I bet Satan came out with one of his favourite lines, “But what if….” But what if nothing happens when we blow the trumpets and shout? But what if I didn’t really hear God? But what if my men get fed up and turn on me? But what if the enemy bursts out of the city and overruns us?

Remember Joshua, God said “NO ONE…”

And you know what? It doesn’t matter at all that Joshua may have had moments (or even hours) of doubts; it doesn’t matter that he may have looked up at the walls of Jericho and felt occasional pangs of fear. What matters is that despite all that he kept going. He heard fear, but he refused to listen to it or let it change his course. That is called courage.

Courage is when we do what we should, despite our feelings, despite the pressure of circumstance or of the crowd – the mainstream narrative.

Faith is trusting God enough to act, no matter how foolish it might seem to those around who don’t know Him.

It’s one thing to follow God with courage and faith when we know where we are going. It’s another to do that when we don’t know. Many of us carry a distinct sense of being unsure of where we are going. Cut off from much of our normal church connections and interactions, many of us have been feeling more isolated than normal spiritually (as well as socially). It’s easy to feel as if this is entirely bad. It is not. It may take some adjusting to, but actually the result is that after everyone else has left the room, only me and Jesus are left. And that’s definitely not a bad thing.

Here’s a good quote by Ron Dunn:

“You don’t realise Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you’ve got. When He is all you’ve got, then you’ll know that He’s all you need”

What we do have is Jesus, and His promise, a bit like Joshua really. These days are our opportunity to enjoy just being the only one in the room with Jesus for much of the time. I think that in a years time as we are busy with harvest, we will look back with fondness at the opportunity we had to relax with God and the absence of busyness that is available now.

So, like Joshua we keep going. We ignore the “but what if” and fear filled voices that lead to gloom and despair. We may hear those voices, but we are not deflected and we don’t let them change our course.

Just as it was for Joshua, so it is for us. So long as we are walking with Jesus NO ONE will be able to stand against us. Just as He might well have said to Joshua, He wants to say to us, “Don’t worry, I’ve got this, trust Me”