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.
When you really honour God, you will come into your senses. God will restore you. He will empower you. You cannot face a problem that God cannot solve. You would never be afraid of anything or anyone.
In Acts we see, when Stephen was stoned- He looked up!
Acts 7: 54-60
"But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
You will see, heavens open over your life. Jesus would stand up to receive you when He sees your faith. Stephen was not afraid at all.
Those who devise plans to harm you, those harms will boomerang on them!
Never retaliate the way they do- don’t keep any hatred in you towards anyone- give them to God!
He plans a provision for every problem I face in the future. What a great confidence, If we could believe!
2) LOOK INWARD
Never look inside us without first looking upward. If you are honest, it will discourage you. It’s something like looking into a gutter. Looking into your flesh is worse than that, if you have a truly converted heart.
That's the very reason Apostle Paul says, there is nothing good dwell in him
Roman 7:18-24
"For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[a] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?"
Isaiah said, “woe unto me”- He was saying woe unto all. All have unclean lips. It’s only me with clean lips. I am okay because I was born again. I am serving God. I am doing many things for the Church. He was finding fault with everyone. Now when he saw God, he was changed in a second! He received light from God to see his own shortcomings. He was a busy body to find fault in others- now he is repenting.
If you receive light from the Lord on you- that will be the greatest blessing you can have from the Lord.
He confessed- He was cleansed- the fire of God touched his lips- the fire which the angel couldn’t touch (it used a pair of tongs). The fire of God purifies the righteous but burns out the wicked. If we ask the Lord to impart His fire on us, we will be set on fire for God.
Happiest people are those who judge themselves everyday and never ever judge others!
Never be a busybody finding fault with others. Remember when we point one finger to others, there stand three fingers pointing on you. What does it say, remove the log from our own eye before we rush to remove a speck from someone else's eye.
1 Corinthians 11:31
“If we judge ourselves righteously, we will not be judged”
3) LOOK OUTWARD
What we received from God must be shared with others!
Whom shall I send, and who shall go for us?
Here is a broken man, shaped in the hands of God, made ready to serve the Lord.
He responds to the calling of God.
It is not easy to serve the Lord. God is not asking, are you able? But He is asking, are you available? It’s God who is filling you in. It is He who empowers you. It’s God who anoints you for His work. He needs only your availability.
The devil and the world keep us busy. Our flesh enjoys being busy with the world, enjoying the stuff of it. One after another we have excuses- all seem reasonable! But do they count to be any good for us in the long run? We are so short sighted and blind towards the future!
When God blesses you, give it out! He will bless you abundantly
I heard a story of a Christian business man, who started giving 10% of business income for God’s work. He slowly increased it and over a period of time made it to 90%. Spending 90% income for God’s work. Someone asked him the secret of his growth- he said, God has a big shovel than mine- God shovels in more with His big shovel but how much more I give out mine is a smaller shovel than God all the time.
When God blesses us with time, Give the time for His work. When God gives us money, give money for God’s work. When God gives us health, give health for God’s work.
Never expect anything from those who are blessed through you. They don’t even thank you. You are serving the Lord. A sales man never expects thankfulness from his customers- because he is a salesman, serving his boss.
Tradition says Isaiah was tortured by his own people. They hated him because he exposed their hypocrisy and sin. He was not a compromiser! He feared God.
God’s service is sacrificial! It demands a cost to pay!
How to face our unknown future and the new year? Looking upward to receive His power and looking inward to have the humility for all the blessings and looking outward to help the needy for which we are called and ordained by God.
Always remember, we are not alone! God knows our inability. If we are sincere.
