Be Strong!

I have not been very good about keeping up my blog lately. There has been a lot going on here in Baton Rouge with the hurricanes and then me being extra busy at work lately. I have felt overwhelmed, thinking to myself, “How am I going to get all of this done?” A question that many people ask every day, I’m sure. Through conversations with my family recently and with friends, I just felt like everyone is dealing with the same stress, the same pressures and the same feelings of frustration I have dealt with recently. So I was looking for verses in the Bible on being strong and found a verse in Deuteronomy that echoes Joshua 1:9. I loved the Message version of this verse – Deut. 31:6:

“Be strong. Take courage. Don’t be intimidated. Don’t give them a second thought because God, your God, is striding ahead of you. He’s right there with you. He won’t let you down; he won’t leave you.”

Wow! Just when you feel like you can’t take any more…remember the promise of God. He commands us to be strong and to not be intimidated by obstacles, people, or anything in this world that frustrates or hinders us. Why? Because He promises us that He is there with us…in fact, He says He is already in front of us!

When I read that, I think back to my childhood. We used to live on a street by woods, and my sister and I, along with some neighborhood kids, used to love to ride our bikes in the woods on trails that were already made for us. Someone had to prepare the way for us. Sometimes it was my dad. He would walk through the woods, cutting back large branches or bushes, making a trail for us to ride on. I can see Jesus doing the same thing. He is preparing our steps ahead so that we can see where we are going clearly! If we let Him, He will cut back all the junk that clutters our hearts and minds to distract us from what we are supposed to be focusing on – whether it be our family, our job, our ministry. Whatever it is, He will protect us and guide us. So we have no reason to be scared or worried. He doesn’t say that He might be with us. He says He WILL be with us! My favorite part is when He says He WON’T LET US DOWN. He WON’T LEAVE US! I just love that, and that’s what we have to stand on in times like these.