Strength and Courage-NOT an option

UV 862/10,000 Strength and Courage –not an Option “ Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1 v 9 This uni-verse clearly says that it is the command of the Lord God that we should collectively and individually be strong and courageous. We have no option but not to be terrified or discouraged for two reasons: one , it is a command of God to be obeyed; two, the Lord our God is with us in every situation which looks terrifying or discouraging or overwhelming. He is both Immanuel and Ebenezer: God for us, God with us, God in us and God who helps us. Being strong implies that whatever strength or ability the Lord has placed inside us, we should discover and use it for His glory. We should be good stewards of our talents and resources. We should hone and develop our physical, intellectual, emotional, social and spiritual strength to its full potential. The single certainty that God is with us should enable us to combat a legion of uncertainties of life. Our security, protection and promotion in adversity and prosperity is not from any other quarter but it is in and from the Lord. It is based on the confidence that the Lord will never leave us, fail us or forsake us. When we confess our lack of strength in any area, He will strengthen us supernaturally, sufficiently and abundantly. In areas of our weakness, His grace is sufficient for us to overcome, to sustain and to remain victorious in life. Being courageous implies that we should not give room to the voices of our own fears: our fear of death, our fear of failure, our fear of pain, our fear of those who are more powerful or stronger, our fear of shame, our fear of losses. The enemy of our soul desires us to be weak, fearful, terrified and discouraged. If our faith in God is weak, He will achieve these goals in one shot. If our faith in God is strong, satan will fail. Our faith is strong when we do not rely on our own limited wisdom, strength, ability and resources but we rely on our knowledge of who God is: His incomprehensible love and commitment to those who are His, His awesome might, His infinite and unlimited grace, His amazing power, His indefatigable strength, His unending and enduring mercy, His army of powerful angels, His inexhaustible resources, His faithfulness to His Word and the promises therein and the memory of what He has done on behalf of us and those we know both in our lifetime and in the past. Despite all this, if we still remain weak,anxious, fearful or discouraged, then we are obeying the enemy. God's awesome, superlative, supernatural power works best in our most awful situations. Prateep V Philip