Okay, so let’s talk about this thing, this verse, Joshua 1:9. It hit me hard during a pretty rough patch a while back.
Getting Started – The Mess
I was facing this huge decision, felt like standing at a cliff edge, honestly. Moving, changing jobs, the whole nine yards. Everything felt uncertain, shaky. Sleep wasn’t great. Lots of staring at the ceiling, you know? Fear was the big one. Just this knot in my stomach, constantly asking ‘what if it all goes wrong?’. It wasn’t a good place to be.
I remember just feeling paralyzed. Like my feet were stuck in concrete. Every option seemed bad, or at least, scary. Making a simple phone call felt like climbing a mountain. That’s how bad the anxiety got.
Finding That Verse
Wasn’t even looking for it, really. Just kind of stumbled across it. Someone mentioned it, maybe? Or I saw it somewhere randomly. The words just sort of jumped out: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid…”. Easy to say, right? Harder to do when you feel like a rabbit caught in headlights.
But it stuck with me. Couldn’t shake it off. It wasn’t like a magic wand, didn’t suddenly make me brave. But it was like a little nudge. A reminder.
Trying to Actually Do It
So, I started trying. Really trying. What did ‘strong and courageous’ look like for me right then? It wasn’t about grand gestures. It was about the tiny things.
- Getting up when the alarm went off, even when I wanted to hide under the covers.
- Making that one phone call I was dreading. Just one.
- Breaking down the huge scary decision into smaller, manageable bits. Okay, first step: research this one thing. Second step: talk to this one person.
- Catching myself when the ‘what ifs’ started spiraling and just saying, okay, stop. Breathe. Remember that verse.
It felt awkward sometimes. Like I was faking it. Telling myself to be strong when I felt anything but. But I kept doing it. Kept repeating those words in my head: “Do not be afraid… for the Lord your God will be with you…” That last part was key, too. The idea that I wasn’t totally alone in the mess.
How It Went
Things didn’t instantly become perfect. The fear didn’t just vanish overnight. There were still tough days, setbacks. But taking those small actions, focusing on just the next step instead of the whole terrifying mountain, it started to shift things. Slowly. Very slowly.
It was like building a muscle I didn’t know I had. Each small act of ‘not being afraid’ made the next one slightly easier. It wasn’t about never feeling fear, I realized. It was about doing the thing anyway, even with the shaky hands and the knot in my stomach.
So yeah, that’s my little story with Joshua 1:9. It wasn’t about a sudden burst of superhero courage. It was about the grind. The daily practice of choosing to take one small step forward, holding onto that promise that I wasn’t walking into the scary stuff alone. It’s still something I go back to when things feel overwhelming. Just a plain, simple reminder to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
