Don’t Get Frustrated By Life, Be Encouraged By The Word

Word-Of-The-Day: ‘<God said to Joshua,> ”(8) Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. (9) Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”’ (Joshua 1:8-9)

In the Christian Walk, it is often frustrating when life throws roadblocks in front of you.  Life can bring happiness, but in can also bring discouragement.  Illness or injury, unemployment, financial struggles, or the grocery store being out of eggs when you hankering for an omelet; big things and little things can impede the Christian.  Happiness is not promised by God, but joy is.  Joy is the contentment in the Faith of God’s promises will be fulfilled.  An outage of eggs (hopefully) will be temporary, but other things are more permanent, like an injury that requires surgery that replaces a joint or removes a minor organ (like a gallbladder) that will need a person to modify their activities, behavior, or diet.

To overcome the obstacles, we need encouragement to move forward.  Not all obstacles are overcome, as some need workarounds – a change in the course of life to move forward but in a slight change of direction. 

A great example of this are the wandering Israelites.  After walking through the wilderness, after a 40-year detour of their own accord, the twelve tribes arrive at the Jordan River.  They are to fulfill prophecy and enter the Promised Land, but it won’t be simply handed to them.  The Canaanites need to be evicted so they can move in.  They will need to become farmers and laborers, something they may not have ever done before because their food was manna and quail from heaven.  Tents will give way to structures as they settle into the communities they found.  It seems to be an arduous task and many obstacles need to be overcome.

Right after Moses went up Mount Nebo and died, Joshua took over as the leader of the Israelites.  God gave words of encouragement to Joshua to move forward and take over the Promised Land (Canaan) and make it Israel.  Among encouraging Joshua and the people to ‘be strong and courageous’ (repeated 3 times from verses 1 through 9), God tells Joshua in a nutshell to ‘study your Bible’.  Now the Bible that Joshua had were the Five Books of Moses or the Pentateuch – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.  It had the Levitical Laws, including the Ten Commandments, that God gave Moses to provide to the Israelites. 

Today, we’ve got a few more Books in the Bible to study, including the New Testament with the Gospels and Epistles (letters) written by Paul and the Apostles.  But God’s directive to Joshua applies to us – we need to ‘read our Bible, study it, and apply it’.  God’s promise is that in return, we will be prosperous and successful. 

This does not mean reading the Bible will give you a big salary or put you on the cover of Fortune or Forbes (it could, but likely won’t), but you will be enriched with the blessings of the Lord and successful have His joy in your life; you will be at peace with God and yourself.  You will also want to share His Word with others, and God will be with you, in step with you, as you do so.  Don’t fear what people think, have Faith that God is with you.    

If you find it hard to read the Bible, or if you encounter someone one may not be able to read or doesn’t own a Bible, this can be overcome.  Like baptism, the act of reading the Bible, while commendable, is not a requisite to Salvation.  Many Christians living in nations that persecute them don’t own Bibles, as they are either banned or hard to obtain.  However, if one comes available, they share individual pages with each other, and they listen intently when the Word is preached or taught to them. 

There was for years a story that D.L. Moody, the great evangelist of the late 19^th Century, could not read very well, and initially started his teaching ministry (which grew from a dozen or so members into the Moody Institute) by going door-to-door, asking people to read to him a pamphlet on Salvation.  The person, upon them reading it to Moody standing at their door, often received Christ themselves. 

If you have a King James Version and can’t get through the ‘thou’s, verily’s, or smites’, get a more modern translation, such as the New King James Version (NKJV), the New International Version (NIV, the older 1970s NIV is more accurate than the updated NIV), or the New American Standard.  Be comfortable in reading your Bible and pray for the Lord to reveal the deeper meaning that He wants you to take away from the Scriptures.

Keep coming to Sunday Services, keep attending your Life Group for study and fellowship, and keep reading your Bible.  Don’t get discouraged if the Lord doesn’t make clear His Word; He may make clear when it’s absolutely needed in your life, and most important, don’t just read His Words – obey Him and take action based on His Word.