What our favorite bible verses mean to us

Hello. I’m Caleb and my favorite bible passage is James 1:2-4: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you

face trials of various kinds. For the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness

have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” This is my favorite

because it tells me that even when life seems to be awful and I’m going through rough times, God is still

in control and I can use those times to grow and become better. It also stresses the importance of

standing steadfast against the things that life throws at us. This is important because without standing

steadfast, we can’t grow from our experiences. Standing steadfast doesn’t mean that you can never

feel overwhelmed or feel defeated, but rather that in the end, you don’t give and you hold on to God.

Knowing that I can, and will, improve through the hard times I am going through really helps me to

keep on going and stand strong, no matter what life is like at the moment. In short, this verse says this

to me: “No matter what you’re going through, stand strong. Things may be awful and life may be falling

apart, but in the end you will come out stronger.” 

For a quick introduction, my name is Randy, and I’m in my junior year of highschool. I’ve grown up in a

Christian family and known and spent most of my life mainly with other believers. So I haven’t had a

dramatic conversion experience, and sometimes it’s easy to take for granted so many of the well-quoted

verses in the Bible, or for things to feel less powerful. Nevertheless, God’s presence has been the

strongest, sweetest thing throughout the time I’ve been here, and His presence has not only been

undeniable, but has been the most dependable thing through every joy and every valley. 

For a long time, the biggest struggles I’ve faced have been internal--for a few years it was a phobia and

anxiety disorder that I couldn’t seem to get over, which kept me from going anywhere without my mom.

There was a period where I got panic attacks, and we weren’t sure what would help or if I would get over

it or not. We tried different things, and there are a lot of tricks and tips that help, but what I remember was

how, when things felt scary and out of control, my mom would pray with me while I was sitting in her lap,

and that brought a security and comfort that calmed me down. 

Now, in the last few years I’ve gotten a lot better, and I’ve learned a lot of new things and gained new

perspective just from being a little older that helps a whole lot--but I think having intense anxiety as a

kid brought me, by necessity, closer to God than I might have been otherwise. There really is nowhere

else to turn, sometimes, but Christ Jesus; and He is always there, without fail, even when we fail to see or

feel His presence. He is always working. All this to say, my favorite Bible verse would have to be Joshua

1:9, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged,

for the Lord, your God is with you wherever you go.” In this verse, God has just told Joshua to lead the

people of Israel into the Promised Land. He tells Joshua not to be afraid; He does not merely suggest

that Joshua take heart, but commands him to do so--and the reason Joshua can take heart without

even the shadow of a doubt is simply because God is with him, and has promised in a previous verse

not to fail him or abandon him. At the end of verse nine, God tells Joshua again that He will be with

him, wherever he goes. The idea, the truth, that God will be with us, is with us, and has been with us

always and through every situation is a theme which runs throughout all of scripture. It is true that God

delivers in mighty ways, even through fire, but sometimes He does not, and sometimes even when He

does, the time of waiting for His deliverance can feel like a fire in and of itself. It remains that the

greatest comfort is God Himself, His holy presence. He is with us in every joy, when we sleep, wake,

and when we eat; He is with us when our hearts are broken, close by us, and even when He does not

take away the suffering or take us out of it, He goes through it with us, always, without fail. So, always

in the presence of God, we can indeed take courage, in all things, courage to trust, to follow, to love

others when it hurts, to forgive when it makes no sense, to suffer and yet take hope and be kind, and

yea, even to die and yet never lose hope: a courage to continue fighting for Truth and being kind,

despite the circumstances--it is that “despite” that is the amazing witness to Christ’s love, and it takes

courage to walk in light despite all-enclosing darkness. 

And that is what is so amazing, is that we can take courage, because God is with us.