As we come to the final chapter of the book of Joshua, we find Joshua making a final effort to lead the people of Israel. He wants to be sure that he has done all that he can to raise a godly generation. Joshua begins by reminding the Israelites of their history, of how God was with them, and how the Lord brought them through each obstacle and hard place. But not just them, their parents and grandparents also. The bad days you’ve walked through are where you’ve compounded the knowledge that God is with me.
It’s so important that we remember what God has done for us. So many of us, when we are free from the storm want to move on forget it. We want to get as far away from it as quickly as possible. Never forget the places you’ve walked through with the Lord; your history holds the purpose for where you are going. Remember where you’ve walked through the fire, where you have endured the storm. The places you thought you would break, the spots where you cracked. Remember the places you’ve triumphed and the times you made it through the dry season to feel the rain on your skin.
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God Is With Me In The Dry Season
Without remembering what the Lord has brought you through, you can’t hang on to God’s promises when the dry season comes. You need them so you can hang on to “God is with me” while the parched ground of your soil begs for water. Your history is the proving ground of everything God has already done in your life. The building blocks that keep your faith standing firm when everything around you is withering beneath the scorching heat.
We need those rough places, the stormy patches that, and the dry seasons, the places you waited for rain -the atmosphere pregnant with anticipation- they are all significant! Like pieces of a patchwork quilt, they form a road map of all the places we’ve survived by the goodness of God. This is where your faith is made strong.
Trusting God In The Dry Season
Joshua goes on to warn the people that they can’t be apathetic or flippant about their faith. They have to be all in and keep trusting God even when life is too hard and they don’t understand. Even when they feel alone and they don’t understand God’s call they can’t run back to the false gods of their parents or the culture around them to fulfill them. Or toss themselves between what they want and what is right. They can’t have their faith as a last resort.
This is it, what Joshua has prepared them for throughout his lifetime is getting ready to play out. And he’s trying to wean them off of his faith, they can’t lean on him any longer. They have to be able to stand on their own faith. Their relationship with God has to be able to survive without him nurturing it. God is with me, has to become more than hollow words to them.
Our focus must stay on the truth, the lessons we’ve learned through each struggle and trial, and that even when the season we are in looks too hard, God is still right there with us and will see us through. We must not let our focus shift to the situation we are experiencing, and away from what God has done and is doing. So quickly when life is hard our thoughts shift to defeat and away from the victory that has already been promised and we get discouraged. Remind yourself of where you’ve been, look at how far you’ve come. Find His fingerprints in the midst of your darkest days and keep your focus on the one which the storm must obey.
God Is With Me In The Bad Days And On The Good
It’s all or nothing, we must choose to serve the Lord wholeheartedly with nothing held back. Throw yourself into your heavenly father’s arms and remember the places that He has redeemed to make something beautiful. We like the Israelites must believe that God is with me, and will take all the pieces of my life and create something beautiful.
The bible says that He will use everything for our good, not just the stuff that feels good, or the pretty stuff. But the mistakes, the heartbreak, the disappointments, the falling short, the brokenness, and the failings. He takes them all and uses them to grow your faith so when the dry season arrives, or the storm appears on the horizon you won’t be lost.
God Is With Me Even When I Feel Alone
Cling to the memory of what He has already done, as you wait for Him to make a way again. Hold tight to it as you strain to see a cloud on the horizon to bring what you so desperately need. Remember that God is with me.
He’s brought you this far, He won’t leave you here. Just like with the Israelites, He has been here every step of the way seeing you through, providing for you, and proving His love again and again. Don’t forget what the Lord has done for you! Remember… remember how He saw you through when everyone else declared you lost, unsavable, and beyond hope. Remember how he left the ninety-nine to step through time and eternity to meet you right where you are.
God is with me, even when I feel alone, even when it doesn’t make sense, when my soul is parched and dry and when I am battered by the storm. The season you are in will change, the strength of the storm will vary, the length of the dry season will differ but the answer to your need will always remain the same. Him.
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So grateful God is with me in the dry seasons, on the bad days, and when I feel alone. All times He reminds me He will never leave me and is working on my behalf even when I don’t realize it. My job is to stay connected and grow in my faith instead of being flippant or apathetic as you mentioned. Praise God for the great things He has done!