Be Strong and Courageous.

Most mornings, getting my son Theo out the door to preschool involves tears.

Not because he doesn't like preschool. That's the thing. He loves it there. He runs in, finds his friends, and by the time I come to pick him up a few hours later, he doesn't want to leave. Getting him back in the car is its own battle.

But in the hour between getting up and leaving home, something in him resists. He cries. He says he doesn't want to go.

We actually moved him preschools last year, but when it carried on with the new one, we realized what it was really about - it wasn't the preschool he was afraid of. It was leaving us.

He wasn't dreading the destination. He was dreading the separation.

I think a lot of our own fears works the same way.

When God spoke to Joshua in chapter one, Joshua was standing at the edge of something enormous. Moses, the leader he'd known his whole life, was gone. He had been given the task of leading an entire nation into a land full of unknowns. The fear in front of him wasn't small or imaginary.

And God's response wasn't "it'll be easier than you think." He didn't minimize what Joshua was walking into.

He said: Haven't I commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Don't be afraid. Don't be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

The command to be courageous isn't grounded in Joshua's own strength or ability. It's grounded in one thing: God's presence. The Lord your God is with you wherever you go. That's the reason. That's the whole foundation.

Be strong, not because this is easy. Be courageous, not because you won't feel afraid. Be brave because you are not going alone.

Some mornings I want to tell Theo, "I'll come with you." But I can't. He walks through that door and we are physically apart.

I can promise I love him. I can promise I'll be with him in his heart. I can promise I'll be there when he gets out, but I cannot go where he goes.

That's what makes God's promise so different.

He doesn't say, "I'll be waiting when you get back." He says I am with you wherever you go.

Not watching from a distance. Not waiting at the door. With you. In the room. In the hard conversation. In the season that feels like unfamiliar territory. Wherever.

Whatever you're walking into today, He goes with you.