Tonight at Institute, we learned about the book of Joshua. The teacher highlighted one scripture in particular. In fact, she had one of her old EFY buddies bring his guitar and teach us a melody to sing it too (thanks teacher and guitar guy! That's the easiest way for me to memorize scriptures).
The scripture is Joshua 1:9. The Lord is speaking to Joshua shortly after he has become the Prophet. He was probably feeling intimidated trying to fill Moses' shoes. The Lord says: "'Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD they God is with thee whithersoever thou goest."
Those words really resonated with me. I have been afraid as I've looked ahead to the future, when I need to be strong and of a good courage. One student made a comment tonight that also struck me hard. She pointed out that when the Israelites were fleeing the Egyptians, they had to go all the way to the borders of the Red Sea, not knowing beforehand what was going to happen to them. As far as they could see, it was physically impossible to escape from the Egyptians at their heels. But then, God performed a miracle. He provided a way for them that they could cross on dry ground.
I keep saying that I feel like everything is going to be okay, but when I look ahead, I can't see how. That comment hit me more than ever that it doesn't matter that I can't see how things will work out... They still will. God performed a miracle to save the Israelites. He can certainly open the way for me to get to where I need to be in this world.
The Institute teacher also briefly mentioned a BYU devotional Elder Jeffrey R. Holland (now an Apostle) gave back in 1980. It's beautiful. If you're ever feeling a little discouraged, give it a read.
No comments:
Post a Comment