Don’t scared lah, God is with you one!

S: Joshua 1:6-9 ⁶ “Be strong and courageous; for you shall cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. ⁷ Only be strong and very courageous. Be careful to observe to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded you. Don’t turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. ⁸ This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it; for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success. ⁹ Haven’t I commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be dismayed, for Yahweh your God is with you wherever you go.”

O: Yahweh told Joshua “be strong and courageous” three times in this short passage! I hear it in Manglish, “Haiya, don’t scared! Don’t scared! I told you already what? Don’t scared lah, God is with you one!” 😊

Not only that, at the end of the chapter, in verse 18, the Reubenites and Gadites also told him “Only be strong and courageous!”

I guess Joshua must have felt that Moses’s shoes are too huge to fill. Suddenly, everything is on his shoulders… but as the story progresses, we realise that no, they’re not all only on Joshua’s shoulders – in fact, Yahweh Elohim is with him wherever he goes, and it is He who enables the victory. First with Jericho and then onwards.

A: Sometimes we, too, feel like Joshua — suddenly responsible for something much bigger than ourselves. Maybe it’s stepping into a new role (which I have faced lately), facing uncertainty, or dealing with loss. God’s words to Joshua are the same for us today: “Don’t scared! I’m with you one!”

The call isn’t to be fearless because we’re strong, but to be courageous because He is with us. That makes all the difference.

Joshua didn’t need to be another Moses. He just needed to be faithful Joshua, walking in obedience to Yahweh. That’s often God’s way — He doesn’t ask us to fill someone else’s shoes, but to walk faithfully in our own, trusting that He’ll lead and equip us.

So when life feels overwhelming — when we feel too small, too weak, or too unsure — may we remember Joshua’s words ringing through time: “Be strong and courageous.” Or, in Manglish, “Don’t scared lah, God is with you one!” 😄

P: Father, I honestly feel the imposter syndrome with my current appointment as programme coordinator. I feel like I have so many balls in the air, I’m afraid I’ll drop one sooner or later. Father, lead and guide me, and help me to be a good witness in my workplace and beyond. In Jesus’s name, amen.