By: Kacie Starr Long
"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
I must admit.
There are times when I experience hard things, where the thought enters my mind to go hide under a rock and curl into a ball.
Can you imagine that? Me, 6 foot tall black woman, hiding under a rock in a cold, damp cave somewhere, curled into a fetal position. Perhaps your immediate thought too, when faced with a difficult situation, is to flee from the terror and self-soothe until the situation gets better.
This week, my husband received news that cancer in his body has returned. It's a different kind of cancer. It's called mucoepidermoid carcinoma, it's located in his salivary gland and most likely is the result of the radiation therapy he received in 2019 when he battled (and won) against Hodgkins Lymphoma in 2019.
We had been concerned for months about a new, hard lump that had formed on his neck, and after a biopsy and several weeks of waiting for the result, this week we received the hard news.
Today, also marks my 12th day of abstinence, where I am intentionally working the 12-steps of Overeaters Anonymous. This means, sending my food lists each day to a sponsor, attending Overeaters Anonymous and abstaining from "trigger foods" that cause me to overeat compulsively.
After receiving the news about the return of cancer to Al's body, I immediately fired off a rattled text to a group of prayer warriors, and reached out to my sponsor --- I am purposeful about walking through this journey to support my husband by feeling all of the emotions, and not eating them.
Today's scripture brings comfort because it is God's reminder that He is with us in the midst of hard, difficult situations. During this time, Joshua has now been chosen to lead the Israelites into the promised land.
Moses has passed away, and the torch is now carried by Joshua. You can imagine that Joshua probably was experiencing all of the feels -- sadness that his mentor was no longer on Earth, fear about his capability to lead this group, excitement with the upcoming excitement.....God reminds Joshua that God is with him wherever he goes. That God will not forsake him, or leave him hanging.
That brings me encouragement today, and I hope it inspires you as well. Yes, we all will experience difficult life situations that may tempt us to hide, to fold, to shut down, or run away, but God is with us in the tough moments.
We don't have to hide or self-isolate.
We don't have to shut down emotionally by binge watching Netflix or diving into cartons and bags of unhealthy foods.
We don't have to get angry or shake our fists at God for bad diagnoses, or unfavorable health reports.
No, instead we can take God at His word and trust Him:
"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
Life is a journey.
Our faith in Jesus Christ is truly a walk.
Today, Alfred and I choose to take God's hand, and walk this journey out as we find strength, and courage in God and not in ourselves.
Thanks for letting me share today, guys.
- Kacie
PS: This year I really want to fall in love with God's word. Therefore, I am committing to memorize scripture each week. I invite you to join me on this journey, where I will email you the scripture for the week along with a short devotional. To receive these emails, please subscribe to my blog and receive an email from me each week. Let's go deeper into God's Word this year!
Hi, my name is Kacie Starr Long. I am an author, and speaker and I love to use my voice to point people to Jesus. When I'm not writing, I'm either working out at Orange Theory Fitness or sewing. I'm in recovery from compulsive overeating and I have a sewing ministry, called the Sew Hope Community Sewing Room. I am the proud wife of Alfred T. Long, Sr and together we lead a non-profit that serves prisoners and their families. Connect with me at www.InspiredOverflow.com and via my YouTube page for Christian teachings and encouragement.
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