Thursday Thoughts: Embracing God's Promise for Navigating Detours

 

Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever go.  Joshua 1:9
How do you feel when you are driving along certain of your location and suddenly, without warning, you find yourself forced to take a detour?  Many times the detour takes you to your destination through a series of streets with which you are unfamiliar.  The confidence you felt in pursuing your destination has changed to anxiety.
“I don’t know where I’m going!”
The daily life for a family facing the realities of a chronic illness or debilitating situation can; at times, be filled with moments of unpredictability-a loved one makes an impulsive decision with life altering consequences, a sick child takes a sudden turn for the worse, a new medication is introduced. Any pursuit of stability in your life seems to be thrown off with a detour into the unknown. Our human desire for control seems to have slipped out of our hands. Traveling into the unknown brings a sense of fear.
The Israelites were no strangers to traveling into unknown territory.  The physical terrain was not always familiar.  Sure, they knew they were headed to the Promised Land but how exactly do you get there?  Along the journey, sinful beings made poor decisions and struggled with trusting in the promises God made to them in the beginning.
How does this promise encourage you as you face the unknown?
Sovereign God, you have shown us through your actions in your people before us that  we have nothing to fear.  You are greater than any challenges we face here on earth.  Please fill us with your peace as we claim your words through Joshua as our own.  Amen