THE PILGRIMS, JOSHUA, AND 2021

 THE PILGRIMS, JOSHUA, AND 2021

I’m reading a book on the history of the Pilgrims. They first started off in England as a group of Christians who wanted to be free to practice their faith freely, separate from the ways of the Church of England. They ran into trouble with the authorities and some were jailed because of their beliefs, so they sought passage across the North Sea to the Netherlands, where they continued to worship as they pleased. But their living conditions dropped to poverty levels. They’d been successful farmers before, but now they could only get jobs in the lowest paying trades. Then many started incorporating new customs into their church services, and in their daily lives they started tolerating practices that were not acceptable before. They decided to move again, this time to America.

 

William Bradford was their leader, and he was a man who never gave up hope. The author writes: “They were not coming to conquer. They were not merchants looking for wealth, like the colonists down south in Jamestown. They were coming so that they might be free to be who they were.”

 

In many ways, I feel like we are like the Pilgrims. We are at the end of a year that most people want to forget. At the ending of each year, I like to reflect on the year past. I make a written or mental list of the events of the year that impressed me the most. This year I think most people would agree that the bad side overwhelmed the good by far.

 

And yet God is still with us and we will go on.

 

As William Bradford and others looked to the ominous task of crossing to America, “they admitted the dangers; the difficulties were many, but not insurmountable. And this would not be a voyage in search of gold, or to claim a new territory, or merely to explore.” In Bradford’s words: “Their ends were good & honourable; their calling, lawful & urgent; and therefore they might expecte the blessing of God in their proceding. . . . All great & honourable actions are accompanied with great difficulties, and must be both enterprised and overcome with answerable courages.”

 

I believe we have the answerable courage to seek the freedom to be who we are. I am reminded of God’s charge to Joshua, when Moses died, and all seemed lost. Joshua was still to be the special unique person God created him to be. He had amazing things to do that he wasn’t even aware of yet. But Joshua did have a few clues.

 

I believe that God has given each of us clues to our future, clues that reside in our hearts and are only waiting to be aroused to life once again, or maybe for the first time. The woes of 2020 cannot override the freedom of life that God has given us.

 

In chapter one of Joshua, God begins his story. I have shortened this passage for brevity’s sake. God told Joshua:

 

“Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go . . . . Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you.  

 

“There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Be strong and of a good courage.  

 

“Only be thou strong and very courageous. . . .

 

“This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth [in other words, keep speaking the truth]; thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

 

“Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest” (Josh. 1:2-9).

 

We are the Pilgrims of today. We are about to pass from 2020 into a brand new world, 2021. We have the answerable courage to do it. God says He’s given us a future (Jer. 29:11). I believe everyone already knows at least one thing that is in that future, one thing that needs to come to life. Only you can do it. Be brave and claim your freedom.

 

Love, Carolyn

 

My books are still being offered on Amazon, and I believe Barnes and Noble. Even the older ones are great to read!

 

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=wings+carolyn+molica&crid=EZNJZZUP3KHG&linkCode=ll2&linkId=db88efb13727dcb484eb29f5b1683284&sprefix=wings+carolyn+molica%2Caps%2C353&tag=jmbcsds-20&ref=as_li_ss_tl