Written By: Mikayla Groffie | Northwest Regional Coordinator

Photo by: Ashley Reitano

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)

As I paddled for my life, I tried to calm my fears by repeating this verse over and over again until it became the only thought in my mind. It was one of those beautiful fall days at Ocean Beach when the San Francisco fog, fondly named Karl by the locals, decided to have a day off. The wind was perfectly offshore. As I paddled, I couldn’t care less about how beautiful the day was; all I cared about was not letting one of the main sets land on my head. Surfline predicted it to be a 6-8 foot day, and while the waves were probably smaller in reality, that didn’t keep my mind from imagining 10-15 foot waves landing on my head. As the small hills on the horizon started to pulse toward me, I felt the lack of volume in my board as my arms seemed to be working overtime, but there was no visual proof of me moving at all. If I wasn’t already completely surrounded by water, I think sweat would have formed a small pool around me. 

Joshua 1:9 was permanently ingrained at that point; however, it still took everything left in me to push the primal fear down and keep paddling forward. Choosing to be strong and courageous, despite being utterly terrified, felt nearly impossible.

I felt like I got a glimpse of the fear Joshua and the Israelites had to fight to overcome in order to follow the Lord’s plan. I think it would have been hard for Joshua to lead confidently without the second part of the verse: “…for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua had seen the Lord show up for Moses and for the Israelites over and over again and knew without a shadow of a doubt that there was nothing that could get in the way of the Lord accomplishing His plans. Without the experienced knowledge of the Lord fighting for Israel, Joshua’s fear might have overcome his courage.

Just like Joshua and the Israelites, we too will have situations that will force us to choose whether or not we are going to be strong and courageous or be afraid and terrified. In the beginning of our walk with the Lord, we might find ourselves being overcome with fear more often than we experience courage. Sharing your testimony for the first time, praying out loud, tithing, loving someone who is difficult to be around, asking for forgiveness, or choosing to forgive someone who hurt you are just a few examples of difficult situations that are hard at first. But from personal experience, each one of those situations has gotten easier and easier to practice because I have seen how the Lord has shown up in them. It’s an experienced knowledge that only gets strengthened the more we step out in faith when God asks us to.

Thinking back to that fall day at Ocean Beach, where I was holding on to this verse for dear life, I was able to suit up and paddle out because even though it was outside of my comfort zone, I knew from previous experiences on similar days that there was a good chance my fears were bigger than reality. I didn’t get a wave that day, but I conquered my fear of paddling out, which felt like a big win. 

Next time, I can reflect back on this day to give me the courage I need to paddle out again. Just like we can become braver in the water the more we paddle out and push ourselves outside of our comfort zone, the same goes for our spiritual walk as we step out in faith into situations the Lord wants us to grow in. We aren’t going to be perfect at it, and there will be some terrifying moments, but each time will become easier as we learn to trust that God is actually “with us wherever we go.”