The en-couraging power of God-with-us

In my dream, I was on my way to Mexico City on business. Instead of staying in the pricy, luxury high-rise hotel room I often occupy in my dreams, this time I’d made a reservation that would save me money in an out-of-the-way part of the ancient city.

I walked up to the front desk, presented my credentials, and was told by the somewhat shady-looking man behind the desk that they had no reservation in my name. I pulled up the confirmation on my phone, but the manager just shrugged and said there had been a mistake.

Meanwhile, I was being pawed over by a pick-pocket, who succeeded in taking my driver’s license while I was arguing with the manager.

Tired of dealing with me, the manager relented and led me on a long, winding journey down dimly-lit corridors, up stairs, past construction workers to a room with no door or windows, with bare sheet-rock walls, a single cot, and no bathroom—for $250 a night.

And with that, I knew this trip was only going go downhill from there.

I was reading the beginning of Joshua yesterday, and perhaps my dream was harking back to what I’d been reading. The people of God had been led by Moses out of Egypt, only to wander somewhat aimlessly in the desert for 40 years. Moses finally dies and appoints Joshua to lead the people into the Promised Land™, “a land flowing with milk and honey,” the permanent home God promised to Israel.

It almost sounds like a trip to Disneyland. The VeggieTales song “Promised Land” captures what I imagine the mood might have been like:

We didn't have a lot of fun in the desert
We didn't have a lot of fun in the sand
But saddle up your cow
It's all behind us now
Because we're going to the promised land

And in the promised land, it's gonna be so grand
We'll have our fill from the grill as much as we can stand
It'll be so great
Oh, we can hardly wait
Cause we're going to the promised land

But then, as they are about to start this new adventure, God says this to Joshua:

“This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” —Joshua 1:9 (NLT

This is where the musical score would turn dark if we were watching a movie. Do you hear that tone? Do you catch the foreshadowing? God anticipates trouble. The land is already inhabited and the Israelites work of occupation will be met with strong opposition. There will be challenges they’ve never faced before, difficulties they’ve never imagined. There will be blood, sweat, and tears as they conquer and rebuild this territory, and as they struggle to live faithfully to God’s laws in the process.

Three times he tells Joshua to be strong and courageous. Then, in this last word, he tells him to tell the people “do not be afraid or discouraged.”

He says this as if these are simply choices, options, flips of some internal switch. Afraid or courageous. Strong or discouraged. Choose which it will be, God says. Get ready for some hard days, some long days, some puzzling days marked by opposition and doubt and trouble and sadness.

And, remember that God is always with you, wherever you go.

I’m confident you’ve had this experience. You’ve had courage robbed by dis-couragement, and then, you’ve found it difficult, maybe impossible, to be en-couraged again. Whatever your particular situation, you may be in (or have been in) a place where life feels as if it has become too hard. The hardships and difficulties wear you down. You simply can’t sugar-coat the realities you’re living with. You’re in pain, maybe physical, maybe emotional. You’re lost. You’re alone. You’re in the midst of something that is beyond your powers to fix, and God doesn’t appear to be answering your prayers for deliverance.

Or, you’re afraid of what might be coming next. Your circumstances are deteriorating, your bank account is dwindling, your health is declining, maybe you’re even facing death. The future looks bleak and it’s certainly not what you had hoped for, prayed for, dreamed about.

And God’s response?

“The Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Is that enough? Is “God with us” enough? Is “God with us” an adequate answer to these things that weigh so heavily on us?

Remember that when the world was torn by war and disease and poverty and brutality and hopelessness and discouragement and fear, when the land of “milk and honey” was occupied by a brutal military power, Christ entered our world and was declared to be Immanuel, “God with us.”

Before Jesus was born, Mary’s betrothed had a dream. An angel assured him that her pregnancy was from God and that her son would “save his people from their sins.” Then the Gospel of Matthew declares:

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). —Matthew 1:22-23 (NIV)

God with us was and is God’s answer to all of the sin-terribleness in the world. Grasping the reality of God-with-us was God’s antidote to the fears and discouragements that would confront the people of Israel as they took possession of the promised land.

When I was a teenager, it became popular in certain situations to say to a good friend, “Bro, I’m with you.” It was an expression of solidarity, a way of renewing a commitment between friends, a pledge to come alongside a friend if and when there was some need.

God with us is that, but much more. When the phrase “God is with you” comes up in the Old Testament, it’s a promise that God will not only be present, but will participate. It says, God will fight alongside you. It says, God will provide for you. It says, God will watch over you. It says, God will hear you and answer you.

Most significant of all, it says: The Spirit of the Lord will rest on you, will inhabit your heart and walk with you in whatever circumstances you find yourself.

The God-with-us submission of Jesus to the cross made possible the God-with-us indwelling of the Holy Spirit, in which we have union with the Holy God of eternity, the God who calls us his beloved children.

What I think all of this means, for those of us who are deep in the midst of hard things, is that we have been given the ultimate source of courage and strength through the reality that God is truly with us, standing with us, walking with us, wherever we are. The infinite God comes to us to share our burdens (Matthew 11:28-30). The loving Father invites us to ask him for help (Matthew 7:7-8). Our good God invites us to trust him (John 8:26). Jesus, our brother, speaks to the Father on our behalf (1 John 2:1).

We are not promised a life free from hardship or sorrow or pain. We are promised a life in which the living, eternal God walks with us through whatever we are experiencing, gives us courage to bear whatever might come, and gives us assurances that can alleviate our fears.

We worship a God who is not distant and disinterested, not asleep or distracted, but a God who loves us, sees us, and is with us. Let that reality give you courage and peace today.