Journey Forward

Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be you dismayed: for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go”

Here is a young man (Joshua) God has called to lead a great number of people to an unknown future. He does not know the journey ahead. But he has witnessed the wonderful provisions and presence of God in the past. He was with a man of God (Moses) who knew God. His time and fellowship with him has increased his faith in God.

Looking only unto God, believing only in His Word, Joshua determined to go ahead into an unknown future.

The year 2026 is unknown to us. We do not know what is waiting for us in the future. Every hour and day of our future is completely hidden to us. None can ever strengthen us or encourage us with human words and convictions.

But we have experienced God in the past. We walked with men of God and women of God who knew God. We heard from them, we listened to them and we have witnessed how God led us through them and how they trusted in God.

Like Joshua, we too are moving forward to God’s promises! There are things which scare us, which can bring fear into our minds. In the midst of all uncertainty and chaos of this world- amidst all fears and confusions- can we trust in God? Can we see Him as our only Hope?

When we find our rest in Him and trust Him as our guide- the fear will go, the path will be clear, hope will come through!

Isaiah, a man of vision, called out by God for a specific purpose in his times- faced a situation of struggles, oppositions and threat even from his own people. He was a prophet of God. An uncompromising man standing as the spokesman of God to a wicked generation who love themselves and their ways! He served the Lord reverentially- finally he was killed by the Israel/Jewish leaders by being sawn in half under king Manasseh’s order Hebrew 11:37)

How did he become like what he was? His trust was in God alone. God was with him. He had seen the glory of God in his lifetime. That vision alone sustained him in all the difficulties and struggles he was going through.

Isaiah 6:1-8

"In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”

At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

1) LOOK UPWARD

He is on the throne. He controls! He reigns. He runs the universe. He feeds all the living things. He controls the universe. He is my Father!

Daniel 4:34-37

We hear about a heathen king, an emperor who feared the Almighty God. What happened to him when he looked up to heaven!

At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honoured and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation.

All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: “What have you done?”

At the same time that my sanity was restored, my honour and splendour were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne and became even greater than before. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.