Thou Shalt Not be a Wuss

An obscure and overlooked commandment

“Thou shalt not be a wuss.”  I’m pretty sure you’ve never read this, the eleventh commandment, and with good reason.  Turns out it was on the back of the tablets that Moses had and he just missed it.  It was an honest mistake.

Of course I’m joking about this but according to Joshua being strong and being courageous is commanded and commandments by their very nature are meant to be obeyed.  Joshua writes:  “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 )  After all, the scripture doesn’t say, “this is my suggestion” or “this is my guideline” or “if it works out for you” these things are commanded.  There’s good reason for this.

Our inclination, despite what any he-man will tell you, is to be afraid, especially when we’re facing the kind of tasks the Israelites were facing and without their leader Moses, no less.  When faced with what appear to be insurmountable odds often all we can focus on are our own weaknesses, fears and wussyness (hence the commandment). The good news is that despite our almost certain feelings of being not enough and not up to the task, we have a resource available to us that tilts the tables far into our favor: God.

He is with us wherever we find ourselves, in whatever circumstance and against whatever odds the world throws at us.  God provides us with the things we’ve convinced ourselves we’re not.  Whether it’s skill or resourcefulness or gumption or just plain old “oomph” He is there for us.  Despite what we might sometimes want to believe, with God’s help, we’ve got this.

So, obey your God.  Follow all his commandments, even the more obscure ones like this because they’re for your own good.  They will pull you through the hard times.  He will pull you through the hard times.

I’m going to take a wild stab and guess you have something right now that you’re fearful about.  I’m also going to hypothesize that a big part of that fear comes because you think you’re not enough.  How’d I do?  I hope you’ll take some comfort in your fear (because we’re all going to have it) that God’s by your side and that his presence changes things for you. 

Every week I write about life stuff and humanity stuff and stuff we all share, like fear.  If you would like to read more, click this and you will be directed back to my blog and you can check more stuff out.  I hope you’ll subscribe to my blog if you haven’t already.  Subscribing means you’ll get an email on Saturdays with links to the week’s posts, nothing else.  No spam or junk will come your way as I never sell or share emails.  You can subscribe at the blog or here by clicking this.  Oh, and by the way, it’s free!