When God told Joshua to be strong and courageous, not to be fearful or discouraged, He gave him a very good reason for that sort of confidence: "The Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.
When I thought on it, "Be strong" seemed kind of a strange command. I've been so aware in recent years of diminishing physical strength and of all the things I can no longer do (like opening a ring pull can or unplugging the iron after I've plugged it in!) It feels to me as if strength is a given, and not something that you can choose to be in the way you can choose to be courageous.
But I suppose that's not strictly true. You can increase your physical strength, at least a little, with exercise. And I can increase my spiritual and emotional strength, and my courage, by not shrinking back from things that feel too big for me.
The writer of a devotional booklet added this further word that the Lord spoke to her: "Not only I am with you, but I have unlimited resources to help you."
Unlimited resources! I know that to be true and have experienced it in my own life over more than four decades of being a missionary. I realised on reflection, though, that while I don't have an issue with trusting God for resources when it comes to some kind of ministry challenge, I often don't expect "unlimited resources" to come into play when it's for something personal - something that I perceive to be "just for me." I'm used to dying to my personal dreams that seem out of reach and I don't in the least mind being the person with the out of date phone or the old computer. And I don't think that's all bad. I see absolutely no reason to hanker after the latest gadget when the one you have works just fine.
But I had to acknowledge that there's a slightly flawed theology in not always expecting "unlimited resources" for my personal needs. It suggests that God is only interested in our work/ministry and not so much in our personal dreams and wishes. And that is simply not true at all of a caring, generous Father. He loves to bless us with special gifts and demonstrations of His care for us.
I need to remember what a huge miracle our house in Durbanville (Cape Town) was. Not only did Helen and I build a brand new house, we built it in one of the "nice" parts of town... because it was a perfect location for close and easy access to the youth ministry centre we had built at that time. Two exciting building projects, one of them "personal," despite the fact that our combined income was "below minimum wage." (That's a story for another time.)
Yet here I am, twenty years later, contemplating having to move far from Alhaurín because the town is too "nice." Its picturesque setting and close proximity to Málaga mean that the area is "too expensive" - both for property prices and for rentals. But it's been the perfect location for the ministry doors that God opened up for us here. Why should I contemplate moving inland to some isolated little village, far from those ministry opportunities, as if I believed that God is unable to activate "unlimited resources" (either in money or in miracles) to provide a place in Alhaurín for me? After all, this is my place of "springs and palm trees." (See this post for an explanation of what that means.)
So I had to repent this morning for not mixing in sufficient faith with the courage and strength that God was encouraging me to have. I thought about some of the dreams that have already come true (like my long term dream of having a dog again) and some of the personal needs that have been provided for in recent times (I have a relatively new car and computer at the moment and, since Christmas, I have a new phone to replace the one that had reached the end of its lifespan.) Yes, I know those three things could be seen as provision for ministry needs, but they're for my personal use as well. So I choose to be bold and strong... and not to act as if God's unlimited resources can't be applied to my housing needs too. He is faithful and He is good!
