Problems come upon us in various forms. Some may be job related. Joshua faced a problem taking over the leadership from Moses. In Joshua 1:9 the Lord says to him, “have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage: be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”
In his new job Joshua faced a problem – fear. Taking on a new job and going into an area unknown to him, no doubt, brought fear into his thinking. God sandwiched the subject of fear with two ideas. First, He said “be strong.” Then, He added, I will be with you wherever you go.
We can be strong in the Lord as we study His Word. The Word of God is both milk to the babe in Christ and meat to the seasoned saint. Either way it has to be ingested. We need to be taking into our hearts and minds the Word of God. Along the way we should be meditating on the Word. It is interesting that the previous verse – Joshua 1:8 – addresses this very subject of meditation. BBNBI affords a student the opportunity to do both – study and meditate on the Word of God.
Problems are a part of life. Recently, our families have had to address the problem of fear as we looked on in horror at the massacre on the Virginia Tech campus. Maybe you or one of your children has asked questions. Maybe you have asked yourself, how could somebody be so cold and evil? Maybe your children have become afraid to go to school. Only the Word of God has the answers we need at a time like this.
At certain times God puts signposts into our lives. No doubt, 9-11 was one for many Americans back on September 11, 2001. Hurricane Katrina might have been another signpost. Do we just pass these signposts and go on or do we search our hearts and ask – what would God have me to learn from this?
One of our BBNBI courses addresses the subject of problems and fears. Dr. Dwight Pentecost teaches a course, Some Problems We Face. It is listed under our electives and addresses some problems in the Christian life. Why not take this time to go and check it out?