the book of Joshua - hope

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This is Day 3 of a series of posts for the month of October. I’m joining Kate Motaung over at Five Minute Friday for the annual Write 31 Days challenge.  I will write about themes found in the book of Joshua each day, with a different word prompt.

Today’s word prompt is HOPE.



The book of Joshua is known by most to be a book of war. Battle after battle is recorded, violence like thousands dying because the Lord’s blessing left His people, heads of kings getting cut off, walls crumbling, cities and people plundered…

So why has this book captivated my heart for so many years?

Because I want to view all things with a lens of redemption.

I really hope that doesn’t come across as holier than though, but my heart grows weary with all that is broken in the world. My heart is tired of always going to a dark place when there is light.
I learned earlier this year that I have a natural (psychological?) bent toward the negative. Left unchecked, I easily spiral into the worst possible side of any word spoken and any situation I’m placed in. This was a wake-up call for me, not because I didn’t realize it, but because I did. I just didn’t see the consequences for my soul.

I grew up with the belief that the Old Testament was full of a bunch of old and somewhat scary stories that weren’t relevant to us today. Plenty of them are scary, but they are certainly not irrelevant.

This gives me hope.

Just like I choose to find redemption in today’s pop culture, I also chose to focus on the powerful moments of hope the book of Joshua gives us today. Some of the redemption I see:

-God always keeps His promises
-God pursues His people into holiness
-God fights for us
-God is gracious and loving to those who don’t deserve it
-God demands things for our good, not His.

These truths give me hope, for they are about our God... who most certainly is a God of HOPE.

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