After what we’ve experienced over the last few years, it’s not surprising that meditation has become as mainstream as breathing. It’s hard to go about your day without hearing something about meditation—it’s headline news, has provoked numerous studies, is written about in lifestyle magazines and is recommended as a way of dealing with fear and anxiety by various influencers and professional psychologists. But before gurus were throwing around terms like “mindfulness,” and barefoot, body-contorting zen masters were touting the wonders of weeklong retreats and emptying your mind, the Bible was emphasizing the importance of meditation as a key component of a successful life.
Now, it might be challenging to believe meditation can be a helpful tool for defeating fear and anxiety if you:
- already view meditation as a useless practice,
- doubt the power of Scripture,
- have been so bullied by fear you no longer desire to fight
- or have lived life without experiencing the power of the Word.
And if you’re someone who has tried meditating only to be disappointed, events of the last few months should be enough to encourage you to return to the discipline. Ahem.
There is power in meditating upon truth; it is not a gimmick, a lie or the hot topic of the moment. Instead, meditation is a fundamental way we retrain our thoughts, stabilize our emotions, galvanize our actions, and open our eyes to new opportunities.
God’s instructions that were written so long ago still speak to us in this day and age. His counsel to His people was not a simple tidbit of advice to consider for their day-to-day, when they had time to spare. Instead, God issued a principle to help assist Joshua prior to the most daunting task to date. And this principle is one that can have a dynamic impact, if we implement it.
8This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you[c] shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
Joshua 1:8–9
That day, Joshua didn’t need a little pep talk because he was having a weak moment. The man was headed into a situation that looked absolutely impossible. Thrust into a leadership role due to Moses’ disobedience and death, Joshua would now have to accomplish a task Moses hadn’t achieved, even after doing the impossible decades prior in Egypt. This would be Joshua’s defining moment… if he decided to move forward.
5 No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you.
Joshua 1:5
We all have moments in which we can find ourselves deliberating the pros and cons, weighing the options so we can get the best outcomes. But when fear and anxiety motivates us, instead of truth, it’s easy to find ourselves in the place of stagnation or (equally as bad) retreat.
When God made you, it was for a great purpose. You were not made to tolerate a low level of living, attempting to just make it through the day. Your life wasn’t made to be subpar and you were not created to be harassed! But when we allow bullies like fear and worry to counter our every move, pixelate our dreams, or lure us into hiding ourselves and seeking our own path of escape, it’s easy to acquiesce to lesser things. To relabel our dreams as illusions and allow the enemy to relegate us to the pile of the “unable,” “unqualified,” and “unworthy” as others seem to easily do exactly what we had in mind to achieve.
Joshua could have refused to seize the opportunity, to cower and nominate someone else. But with God on his side, he persisted to victory, impacting not just his life, but the lives of millions, helping them step into the freedom God had promised so long ago.
God’s willingness and ability to encourage Joshua to face a powerful enemy and step into a long held desire is available to us today. The promises of peace, victory, unwavering strength, help, and stability are for us RIGHT NOW!
“God is not a man, that He should lie,
Numbers 23:19
Nor a son of man, that He should repent.
Has He said, and will He not do?
Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”
We all have varying degrees of intelligence, skills, capacity, and wealth, but we have access to the God of the Universe and that more than makes up for any shortcomings. He has access to all intelligence, skills, capacity, and wealth. As we meditate upon the truth of freedom we are able to gain a greater perspective of who we are, what is ours, and how we can see the reality within us and around us completely change.
Choose truth today—your life, your promised land, and those you will help step into freedom are worth it.
Until we see Him.