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 1:9

A few weeks ago my pastor’s wife, Carlynn, challenged me and my fellow ministry sisters to memorize this verse.  Before I left that dinner she asked “What are your fears?”  I thought about it, but didn’t have an immediate answer so she encouraged me to prayerfully consider what they are.  Every day that week in my quiet time I put fears that came to mind before the Lord, trying to figure out if they are even legitimate and why I even have them.

Each day of doing this, of course I uncovered fears, some I knew about already–for example I’m terrified of deep water and sharks–and others that just thinking about fears made me start having fears–what if Bobby or Tyler died suddenly, what if my children never come to repent of their sins and put their faith in Christ?

At the same time as I was evaluating the fears in my heart I was working on memorizing the verse and something started to happen…  Praying and committing Scripture to heart has begun to eliminate the fears.  Praying about them, actually turned into confession time, that I’m not trusting God with those worrisome, often just “what if” thoughts.  And also, my heart became deeply convicted that I would hold on to any fear when God, in Joshua 1:9 has specifically commanded me not to!

For some, this might seem obvious and I’m a little behind here.  But honestly, this was a powerful realization for me.  Harboring fears is debilitating because when we consider potential outcomes or circumstances and our response is most often to be either terrified or discouraged.  We give way to anxiety, nervousness, stress, and live trying to control things or we lack joy and passion because we are so focused on what the situations are or could be that we don’t keep moving forward through entrusting ourselves to God’s more than capable hands.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Philippians 4:6

One of the reasons that my prayers about my fears turned into confession is because of this command in Philippians:  Do not be anxious about anything.  “Anything” is pretty inclusive!  My response to fear is to be prayer and as I petition and give thanks to God those fears will be eliminated.

The other part of Carlynn’s challenge that drove and kept this reality home is that I got to memorize the verse.  Not just scan it over and then spout it back so I can be done with it.  But to mull it over, to say it all throughout the day and explain it to other people so I really know it, committing-it-to-heart kind of memorizing.  By nature, we will always forget.  We can’t just read Joshua 1:9 and say “Okay, great, I’ll do that.”  And then actually keep it up for long.  Unless we plan out to and are set to refresh our minds we won’t be into it a few weeks down the road. That is why committing God’s Word to heart is so important.

I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

Psalm 119:11

The Psalmist knew about the safeguard that God’s Word is in keeping our hearts from sin, including giving way to fear.  If we are going to live according to God’s commands we have to remember them!  As I’m going about my day and I feel fearful about evangelizing my neighbor because I don’t know what she’ll say or think of me, if I pray, right then and there and refresh my mind with Scripture (specifically commands to evangelize) I am going to be much more likely to live according to those commands instead of my fears.  What if instead I have to go home, look up some passages about overcoming my fear to evangelize, spend time praying about it and go back outside…at that point my neighbor is done walking her dog and I’ve missed that opportunity.

If instead of being terrified and discouraged by things in life I was praying and reminding myself of God’s Word, I would definitely be more strong and courageous.  I would always be ready to do whatever God is asking me to do.  Living fearlessly is living ready.  I got a glimpse of this in the last three weeks and I am so excited about how freeing it is not to try to justify or validate my fears and then not being effective because they are bogging me down.  When I give them up to the Lord in prayer and keep my mind refreshed with His Word, nothing is holding me back from jumping all in each day living for the Lord!