As a mother, I cannot help but worry about my daughter. I also worry about my husband but I worry about my daughter who’s only a year old. This pandemic, COVID, has definitely changed not only my life but the lives of the people around me. There are days that I think I should not worry about it because the Lord is with me but there are certain times that doubts and fears come overwhelming. I battled with fear since yesterday and I praise the Lord that this morning He gave me peace through His words in the Holy Scriptures.

Truly the Lord knows our struggles and He does not turn a deaf ear or a blind eye to any of His children that seeks His help. This morning in my personal worship He led me to the right chapters in the book of Joshua. I picked up my reading from Chapter 8 of that book (I am actually following a Bible reading plan from amazingfacts.org). In this chapter and the chapters around it, the Israelites were fighting with different groups of people as they take possession of the Promised Land. As they were trying to take over the land of Ai, so many people died because God was not with them. Why was He not with them? It was because there was sin among them. Who sinned? Achan. Sad story. It was a sad story of selfishness and greed. God told Joshua to “Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow: for thus saith the Lord God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you” (Joshua 8:13). Something profound struck me here. You cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the accursed thing from among you (revised). So, I had a bit of soul searching and I asked God to search my heart “and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:24). As I thought about it, my struggles yesterday and this morning was primarily because of unbelief. UNBELIEF. I thought I love God. I thought I am a Christian. But what happened to my faith? Did I just believe that He will deliver me, my family, the people around me–everyone–mentally and spiritually? It’s time to claim the promise and fully believe that He definitely will. That unbelief has to be taken away from my heart so that faith in God may dwell.

As I continued reading, another major thing hit me. Joshua and his men were fighting with Adonizedec king of Jerusalem and four other kings and their men. God was with them. This was already in Chapter 10. I kept reading and reading and then there I read…”And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the going down to Bethhoron, that the LORD cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died: they were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword” (Joshua 10:11) Wait, what? What did God do? Yes, you read it right. God rained hailstones to the enemies of the Israelites. What’s my major takeaway from this? God loves us so much. He cares for us. He longs for us to spend time with Him and to make sure that we make Him a part of our lives. Here, Joshua and the people of Israel did that. They went back to God and He continued to be with them and be their God. He did not only deliver the enemies to their enemies but He literally did something to help them. You see, we may be going through a rough time in our lives right now. We may be in the middle of something but if God wants to do something big for us–stop something more serious from happening or basically to save us from our situation, He will. He will.

If I based my way of living on the news, my heart will faint. However, if I based my way of living on the Word of God, if I make Him my Anchor of Faith, I know that not only my life will be secured but that also of my family, friends, and the people around me.

It’s definitely time to take God seriously, to have the real faith in Him.

I love reading the book of Joshua because I am reminded over and over by the Lord to NOT BE AFRAID. BE COURAGEOUS. DO NOT BE DISMAYED. God is with us and He will never leave us or forsake us. This is also in Deuteronomy. Isn’t that neat?

The next time you are caught with fear. Pray. Then ask God to give you faith. Nothing can overtake us as long as we have God in our hearts.