Be Strong and Courgeous in God’s Presence

Have you ever felt like you are standing in between seasons. Not who you were. Not fully who you are becoming. Just somewhere in the middle.

That is where I found myself after walking through seasons of grief, healing, and rebuilding parts of my life I never expected to have to restore.

That feeling found me one morning while I was sitting at my table with my Bible open and my coffee still warm. Nothing unusual. Nothing dramatic. Just a quiet moment where I realized something was shifting and I wanted God to lead me into whatever was next.

And that is why I found myself in the book of Joshua.

Joshua chapter one is about transition. It is about stepping forward without being chained to what is behind you. It is about learning to trust God when the future is unknown and the past is still close.

In this one chapter, God reminds Joshua of His presence three times. He also tells Joshua to be strong and courageous four times.

That is not accidental. That is intentional.

Here are the three times God promises His presence:

1. Joshua 1:5 “No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
2. Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
3. Joshua 1:17 “Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you. Only may the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses.”

Then there are the four times God calls Joshua to be strong and courageous:

1. Joshua 1:6 “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.”
2. Joshua 1:7 “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you. Do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.”
3. Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged…”
4. Joshua 1:18 “Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey it, whatever you may command them, will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous.”

What makes this even more meaningful when you look at Joshua’s life is who he was before this moment.

Joshua was a slave in Egypt. He lived under oppression. He knew what it felt like to have no control over his circumstances, no voice, no freedom. Then he became one of the twelve spies sent into the land. He saw both the promise and the fear. He stood in faith when others stood in doubt. Then he became a soldier, fighting real battles. And then he became Moses’ assistant, walking closely with a man who heard from God face to face.

Joshua had walked through bondage, fear, faith, battle, waiting, and leadership long before he ever stood on the edge of the Promised Land.

He was shaped by those seasons, but he was not defined by them.

And that is where Joshua quietly takes away our excuses.

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He takes away the excuse of saying my past was too hard, so I cannot move forward. He takes away the excuse of saying I have been hurt too deeply to trust again. He takes away the excuse of saying I have been through too much to believe God can still use me.

Joshua’s story says your past can shape you, but it does not get to define you. God defines you.

Even a warrior has to be reminded to be strong and courageous. Even a man who has fought battles and walked with God still needs to hear it four times in one chapter.

That tells me that courage is not the absence of fear. It is choosing faith over fear again and again.

God does not tell Joshua to be strong by looking at himself. He tells him to be strong by staying anchored in the Word.

This is what God says in Joshua 1:8

“Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips. Meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”

Everything, not some of it. Day and night, not occasionally. On your lips, not just in your head.

And this is where my word for 2026, Restore, comes in so clearly for me.

God was not just leading Joshua forward. He was restoring what had been lost in bondage. He was restoring identity, restoring purpose, restoring trust, and restoring the people back to the life they were always meant to live.

Restore does not mean pretending the past did not happen. It means God redeems it. It means He heals what was broken, rebuilds what was damaged, and renews what was worn down.

Joshua was not restored by forgetting Egypt. He was restored by trusting God beyond it.

That is the invitation for us too.

If we want fearless voices, we have to be biblical thinkers.

We are walking through a fallen world. A loud world. A broken world. A confusing world. If we are going to walk through it strong and courageous, it will not be because life is easy. It will be because God is with us and His Word is in us.

Not by trusting ourselves, but by trusting the God who promises again and again, I am with you.

That is how we live faith over fear.

That is how we walk forward without being chained to what is behind us.

That is how God restores us.

Letters to God Journaling Opportunity

Find a quiet space. Take a deep breath. And write a letter to God using the prompts below as a guide. Let this be honest, not polished. God is not looking for perfect words. He is inviting your real heart.

Dear God,

Where have I allowed my past to define me instead of allowing You to shape me?

What part of my story still feels wounded, heavy, or unfinished and needs Your restoring touch?

Where in my life are You inviting me to choose faith over fear right now?

What does it look like for me to stay anchored in Your Word in this season instead of being shaped by the world around me?

What would it mean for me to truly trust You with what is ahead of me?

Finish your letter in your own words. Sit with God in that space. Let Him meet you there.

                                                         

Dear God,

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Thank You for being a God who restores. Thank You for walking with me through every season, the bondage, the wilderness, the battles, and the promises. Thank You that You never waste my story, even the parts that were painful or confusing or hard.

I ask You to restore what has been broken in me. Restore my trust where it has been shaken. Restore my hope where it has grown tired. Restore my courage where fear has tried to take root. Help me to be strong and courageous, not because I feel brave, but because You are with me.

Teach me to be a biblical thinker with a fearless voice. Shape my thoughts with Your truth. Anchor my heart in Your Word. Let my life reflect faith over fear, obedience over comfort, and trust over control.

I give You my past, my present, and what is ahead. I lay down what has defined me and receive what You say is true about me. Lead me forward, Lord, into the life You have for me, restored, renewed, and made whole in You.

Amen.

I would love to connect with you. Please comment below and let me know if you are in a transitional season and how I can pray for you. You can find me on facebook by clicking the link. 

                                                                                                          

                           

RESTORE

 

Bring something back to life, to repair what has been broken, to return something to the condition it was always meant to be in.

My one word for 2026 is restore.

Cancer, grief, and life on this side of heaven broke me for many years. Trusting people outside the walls of my home also broke something in me. Year after year I found myself stepping back into the shadows of doubt and uncertainty. I was letting life dictate who I was instead of living from who God says I am.

Three years ago I was rear ended in a car wreck. It came on the heels of that season and became a defining moment for me. It was the moment I finally said enough is enough. It was the moment I began praying healing into my life instead of only surviving what was happening to me.

It came after many years of carrying more than I ever expected to carry. The quiet grief of losing people I loved. The weight of cancer that marked my body and my heart. All of it shaped me in ways I did not understand at the time and yet God was already working beneath the surface beginning a healing long before I knew I needed it.

This picture is not about weight loss. It is 
about healing from the inside spiritually 
and physically to become restored to the
person that God has called me to be. 

That wreck led me on a three year journey of physical healing. It led me to functional care that answered questions I had been carrying for years and taught me how my body was designed to work. Through that healing process God restored not only my body but also my hope my trust and my faith in what is possible again.

This was not something that happened overnight. It has been decades of life shaping me through hardship and God reshaping me through grace. Through every obstacle God was healing something deeper in me. He was rebuilding what I could not see yet. He was lighting a fire in me for a deeper love and understanding of Jesus not the surface kind of faith but the kind that carries you through suffering and brings you back to life again.

Now I feel ready to move beyond healing into restoring what the brokenness took away. This year I feel a deep longing to let the old worn down version of me fall away. I am ready to step forward into who God always intended me to be. I want to live without fear shaping my choices and without lies defining my identity. I want to walk in truth in confidence in peace and in purpose.

Restore for me is physical. It is emotional. It is spiritual. It is personal. It is God gently putting back together what life has worn down and reminding me that nothing was wasted. Not the pain. Not the waiting. Not the tears. Not the questions.

Restore at home

Restore is also happening in our home.

We are working room by room to restore the house where we raised our boys. This home has been our safe place while the world outside these walls felt chaotic and dark. The people inside these walls are our peace. God is our everything and He gave us Team Robinson and the closeness we share to walk through what life was throwing at us.

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We prayed together. We searched for answers together. We held on together with God as the glue that kept us steady when everything else felt uncertain.

We are restoring our home without erasing the memories the stories and the personalities that grew here. We are honoring what was while making space for what is coming next.

This is not about becoming someone new. It is about returning to who I was created to be before the world told me otherwise.

Restore with intention

Restore is not just a word for me. It comes with action.

I am choosing to keep getting to know God personally and deeply not just about Him but who He is so that when lies come I will not waver. I am choosing to know who I am as His daughter as a woman created in His image so that I no longer let the world define me.

This is how restoration will take root in my life. Through truth. Through relationship. Through identity.

So I am walking into 2026 with open hands and a hopeful heart trusting a faithful God to restore what He wants restored in me and believing He is not finished yet.

When I look at Jesus on the cross I see the heart of a God who restores. He stepped into brokenness so that brokenness would not have the final word. And because of Him I trust the promise in Joel 2:25 that God restores even the years that felt lost. I am walking into that promise with hope.

“I will restore to you the years that the locust has eaten.” Joel 2:25

A Moment to Reflect

If this word resonates with you take a few quiet moments and sit with these questions:

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What parts of you feel tired, worn or in need of restoring right now

What have you been carrying that God never meant for you to carry alone

Where do you still find yourself shrinking back instead of stepping forward

What would it look like for you to live fully from who God says you are

What are you being invited to release so restoration can make room

What do you sense God restoring in this season of your life

Praying for Restoration

God thank You for being a restorer. Thank You for seeing every part of our story and never wasting any of it. Thank You for the healing that has already taken place and for the restoration that is still unfolding. We give You the places in our hearts, our bodies, and our lives that still feel tired, broken or uncertain. Gently restore what life has worn down. Restore our peace. Restore our joy. Restore our trust. Restore our hope. Help us live from truth, not fear, from identity, not insecurity and from faith, not doubt. We trust You with what You are doing even when we cannot see it yet. Amen.

I would love to hear from you! Please say hello in the comments and let me know if you are in a season of restoration, and let me know how I can pray for you. 

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