Rebekah Hawk shared her thoughts with us this week. Be sure to check out the contributor’s page to learn more about her.
As I reflect on the end of 2021, and reach forward to 2022, the passage that our family has been reading aloud every school morning has been forefront in my mind. Joshua 1:1-11 details the first days of Joshua’s leadership over the nation of Israel after the death of Moses.
For Israel, it was a time of mourning, new beginnings, and a huge challenge lay in front of them to boldly march into the Promised Land and begin claiming their inheritance. The quest for the Promised Land relates well to our Antarctica unit study, so we are studying and memorizing parts of this incredible passage of Scripture.
What fascinates me the most about the incredible quest to discover and explore Antarctica is its similarities to Joshua’s quest to help his nation enter and conquer Canaan and to our situation as we enter a new year.
As curious and determined explorers plunged into icy waters, sure that there was an undiscovered land at the bottom of the world, so the Israelites stood poised to plunge into an unknown land that God had promised them, and so we also stand poised at the very beginning of a year full of unknowns.
What did God tell Joshua to do at the very beginning of this incredible undertaking? Be strong and be courageous. Three times, God told Joshua to be strong and have courage. How could Joshua have strength to accomplish such an overwhelming task? How could he muster up the courage to fight giants and go against armies with his untrained countrymen?
First, God reminded Joshua that strength comes from doing what is right. Verse 7 reminds Joshua to obey all the commands that God had given Moses. You cannot obey commands you cannot remember, so Verse 8 admonishes Joshua to meditate on the law every day and every night. I do not know what will happen in 2022, but I can be assured that if I am focusing my mind on the Word of God every day, then I will be able to choose the right in every situation.
Second, God reminded Joshua that he could have great courage because God would never leave him. My mind flies to Jesus’s promise to His disciples as He was ascending into Heaven: that He would be with them always, “even unto the end of the world.” (Matthew 28:20) I can have great courage as I head into 2022 because my God is going with me! He will not leave me to face the unknown by myself, but has promised to stay with me, give me His light burden, and His easy yoke.
Dear Friend, your year may look bleak and fraught with unknown evils and pain, but I urge you to stay in the Word, and remind yourself that the God of the Universe, Who spoke the stars into existence, is always with you, wherever you go. Be strong and very courageous!
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