Word Study Wednesday: Fear (Part 2)

Joshua 1:9: "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrifed; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with your wherever you go."

My Take
God spoke these words to Joshua as He prepared him to take over the Promised Land thousands of years ago. He now uses these words to guide me through my writing career. Granted, my writing career does not entail physical war with large armies, but I am waging a war - with myself.

This past year battles raged inside me. Attacks from the enemy included "What would you write? Who would want to read something you wrote? You think you can really write?" But the message from my Commander came in loud and clear "I called you to write."

So, here I am today, writing a blog and working on a few submissions, no longer terrified, thanks to the LORD.

I will admit, discouragement, disguised as a rejection, snuck through my defense line, briefly. More attacks - "See, told you." More encouragement "I'm with you - write more." I accepted my rejection and am now re-working the article a bit for resubmission to another publication.

I've learned, re-learned, accepted, and rejected several issues throughout this battle. One of the biggest lessons I've learned is that fear keeps us from our calling. Our enemy wants us to be terrified of the unknown and discouraged through rejection and failure because if we're not, then we are doing what God has called us to do - which terrifies the enemy.