There is rarely the time in this life where we recognize the sufficiency of God. The fact of the matter is that we don't often have any concept of how needy we are, nor how sufficient He is. And this is because too many of our "things" get in the way. As the life of Moses came to an end it was Joshua who was left with the responsibility of leading the people of Israel into the promised land. It may not seem like such a big responsibility, but consider a few things: 1) there were an estimated 1.5 to 2 million people he was leading, 2) there stood in the promised land nations and cities of people who will war against Israel, 3) Joshua had never led before, and 4) Moses, his friend, and leader is gone. We get the indication that Joshua was exceptionally frightened by what was upon him and in front of him because three times in verses 1-9 of the first chapter of Joshua we hear these words "Be strong and courageous." God is the one who said this and He did so because He knows what Joshua knows: that Joshua is neither strong nor courageous.
The promise to Joshua is that God will "be with [him]." So it is this promise that is the very ground upon which God's command to be strong and courageous is made. It is the reason for which he can be and needs to be strong and courageous. And it is so typical of what God is ever doing in the lives of us all.
We hardly notice the presence of God with us, nor the sufficiency of God with us. It is because we don't have to face our need for God, nor the greatness of God because of all that is around us. Because we have good health, a job, a house, clothes, joyful experiences, and so many loving people around us we don't recognize it. Because we have never felt the weight of a big responsibility, or it has been so limited in nature, we haven't had to face it. But in those times God is still infinite, all powerful, all knowing, omnipresent... And the very breath we breath and beating of our heart is because He sustains us. But we don't know it, or recognize it, and that is only because we haven't had to.
And so God intervenes. There are episodes, there are days, weeks, months, even years where God strips away all these things upon which we have relied. For Joshua God stripped away Moses. No longer could Joshua hide behind and under the faith of Moses. He was having to really believe for himself because of what God had stripped away and wouldn't let him hide behind any longer. And so too in our lives God strips away the health, the job, the simplicity of our task, the certainty, the familiarity, the money. And in all this we are left with the same reality that Joshua faced. We are left with noting but God. And in seeing Him we find out what sort of faith we have.
In all this it is the goodness of God to take away from us. It is in His taking away from us that all these various things that made obscure our view, He gives us sight of what we have ever needed to see: HIM. He shows us His beauty, His glory, His grace, His love, His justice, His presence with us, and in seeing all that, we better see Him and our faith in Him grows. And in all that we find the sufficiency of God. So during the fear you and I face over losing things, let us learn to consider the greater gain as we come better to see the greatness of our God and know in HIM we have everything we need.
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