Today’s question in part two of my series, “Because God Said,” is one, which it is safe to say in one area or another we all struggle. The question is how do I overcome insecurity? Insecurity is “a state or feeling of anxiety, fear, or self-doubt; lack of dependability or certainty.” Do these definitions surprise you? Have you ever experienced insecurity based on its definitions? To be transparent, I have wrestled with all those traits at different stages in my life and various situations such as work and relationships.
Even though we cannot look up the term “insecurity” in the Bible since the word is not directly addressed, there are people in the Bible who wrestled with the traits of insecurity. When you think of the word insecure, who do you think of in the Bible who embodied this? Perhaps, Moses was one of the first to cross your mind. We are going to look at a passage, which includes Moses, but it is not from Exodus 3. The passage we are going to look at is found in Deuteronomy 31:1-8. It says,
Then Moses went out and spoke these words to all Israel: 2 ‘I am now a hundred and twenty years old and I am no longer able to lead you. The Lord has said to me, ‘You shall not cross the Jordan.’ 3 The Lord your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua also will cross over ahead of you, as the Lord said. 4 And the Lord will do to them what he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, whom he destroyed along with their land. 5 The Lord will deliver them to you, and you must do to them all that I have commanded you. 6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.’
7 Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, ‘Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their ancestors to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. 8 The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.’
Context is always important; therefore, it is important to elaborate on Moses’s meaning in verse 2. Why did God tell Moses he would not cross the Jordan? In Numbers 20:2-12, the Israelites complained in the wilderness to Moses about not having any water to drink. In response, Moses and his brother Aaron went before the Lord with the matter, and the Lord told Moses to take his staff, gather everyone, speak to a rock, and the Lord would produce water for the people from it. Sadly, Moses chose to strike the rock twice with his staff; water did come out, but the consequences of his disobedience was he would not be the one to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land.
Now here we are at the end of Moses’s life in Deuteronomy; his time as leader is coming to an end, and the time has come for his successor to lead the Israelites. Verse 3 reveals who will be the one to cross the Jordan with the Israelites: Joshua. Joshua knew this moment would come (check out Numbers 27:12-23). Still, there is a difference between knowing something is on the horizon, preparing for it, and having to step into doing it. What do you think Joshua was feeling on the cusp of leading the Israelites?
Although there are no written words in Scripture to know precisely what Joshua was feeling in this moment, verses 7-8 give us an idea of what might have been going through his mind. In your own life have you ever been told phrases along the lines of, “Don’t be afraid,” or “It’ll be fine.” How about as a child when you scraped your elbow or knee and the adult caring for you said something along the lines of “You’re okay” after looking at your injury. Maybe, when you were a child and were afraid of getting a shot or afraid to walk into school on the first day of kindergarten, your parent encouraged you saying, “Be brave” or “You can do this.” More likely than not the reason you heard those phrases in specific moments was because they could see in your face or hear it in your cries that you were afraid, you were worried things would not be fine, you didn’t feel like you were okay, or you did not think you could do it. With that in mind, let us read verses 7-8 once more. It says,
Perhaps, the Lord’s words reveal how internally Joshua was feeling weak, afraid, and lacked confidence in himself. Though Joshua might have felt insecure in leading the Israelites, there is an important lesson we can takeaway amid the moments we experience insecurity in our own lives. As the Lord did with Joshua, He will go before you, and He will be with you even as you wrestle with insecurity. I would encourage you to make time to read the Book of Joshua and see how Joshua responded to the words the Lord spoke to him, and embraced the role bestowed upon him.
Do not let the insecurities you wrestle with keep you from embracing the role(s) God wants to use you; do not let insecurities keep you from resting in who you are in Christ. Moreover, do not allow the insecure wounds of the past keep you from receiving the new relationships God wants to give to you. Instead, allow the Lord to define who you are, and what you can do for His glory. Allow Him to reshape your thinking around who you are through His Word, and through those in your life He speaks to you through. So, friends, do not shy away from what has you feeling insecure, face your insecurities knowing God is with you, and rest in knowing He will not leave you to face them alone.
All Bible verses are from Holy Bible: New International Version