“Be strong and courageous, do not be terrified nor dismayed (intimidated), for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” — Joshua 1:9 (AMP)
Two Phrases, One Journey
“Life is a faith journey.”
I’ve shared a few times that those were my father’s words. He used to say them to me from the time I was a teenager, long before I understood how much I’d need them.
Somewhere along the journey of my life, I added two more:
“Walk boldly.”
I wish I could tell you the exact day those two words became part of the phrase. I can’t. There wasn’t an a-ha moment, no single Tuesday afternoon where it clicked into place. It came quietly, during seasons I didn’t choose and wouldn’t have chosen. Those words came through losses, many disappointments, and plans that didn’t survive real-life stuff. You know, the kind of seasons that give you every reason to get cautious, maybe even a little cynical.
And yet what came out of them wasn’t “stop walking.”
It was “walk boldly.”
If you’ve ever heard “walk boldly” and thought, “That’s not me — I don’t feel confident, I don’t feel fearless, I don’t have it figured out — you’re not alone.
What “Walk Boldly” Doesn’t Mean
If you’ve spent any time in the self-help aisle in a bookstore, you’ve probably seen books promoting some version of “walk boldly.” The message is usually the same: be fearless, be confident, believe in yourself, and the rest will follow.
At first, that was my thinking. But as time went on, the Holy Spirit made it clear to me that those words had a different and more important meaning in my life.
I already know life isn’t easy. Lord knows, I sure would like to have all the answers before I take the next step. Most days, I might have the illusion of one step of visibility and nothing more. So if my version of boldness required certainty, or fearlessness, or unshakable self-belief — I’d have given up a long time ago.
I now know for sure:
I can only walk boldly because Jesus is right here with me.
Knowing that does something so important. It takes the weight off of me and puts it where it belongs. My boldness isn’t self-generated. It’s not, “I believe in myself.” I mean, I do, but it’s really about believing God is always with me—which is a completely different foundation to stand on.
He Goes Before Me, Beside Me, and Behind Me
I picture it in my mind this way:
He goes before me. I don’t have to see the whole path because it’s already been walked. He’s already gone before. Whatever is ahead of me — the parts I can’t yet name — He’s already been there.
He walks beside me. Jesus is not somewhere off in the distance, waiting for me at the finish line. He’s right here, in the actual middle of it, especially on the days it’s quiet, and I feel like I’m alone.
He’s got my back. The parts behind me — the mistakes, the seasons I’d rather not revisit, the things I can’t undo — are covered too. I don’t have to carry those alone either.
That’s complete companionship. It’s not “meet me at the end” or “I can only stay for a minute.” It’s every direction, every part of the road.
Joshua 1:9 (AMP) puts it plainly: “Be strong and courageous, do not be terrified nor dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Not wherever the road is easy or whenever it’s hard. He means, wherever you go.
I see that’s just a complement of my own life verse, Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT): “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.” I don’t have to depend on my own understanding or know how this season will resolve. I just have to keep walking, trusting Jesus because He already knows.
I think about how Jesus was resting in the boat during that terrible storm on the sea. While His disciples panicked, Jesus rested, trusting His Father’s sovereign care and knowing that nothing could happen outside His Father’s will. That trust produced peace, even in the middle of the storm. We have to show up like that while enduring the very real storms of life, resting in our relationship with the Lord, and trusting Him. (See Mark 4:35–41.)
Why This Matters Right Now
I’m in a season where I have way more questions than answers. Some things are still unfolding, and I’m not ready to talk about them here yet. But I’ll tell you this much: there are pieces of my life right now I genuinely can’t see how they’ll turn out.
And I keep coming back to the same place. Not “I know how this ends.” But “I know Jesus is with me.”
Our lives have to be a continuous stream of trusting God. We are always prone to thinking we can figure things out for ourselves.
Now that’s the messy middle for you. It’s not comfortable. But it’s where His faithfulness becomes the most visible — not because the path is clear, but because it isn’t, and we remember He’s been there all along.
Walk Boldly With Me
Maybe you’re standing in your own version of an unclear path right now. A decision you can’t quite make. A season that isn’t resolving as fast as you’d like. A “bold” version of yourself that the world keeps telling you to manufacture out of sheer willpower.
I want to offer you something gentler than that.
We don’t walk boldly because we can see the whole path.
We walk boldly because we trust in the Lord who is walking with us.
That’s the invitation my father gave me without ever using those exact words — and it’s the one I hope you’ll take with you today.
Life is a faith journey. Walk boldly.
💜 Be confident—not in yourself, but in the One who goes before you.
💜 Be honest about the parts of the road you still can’t see.
💜 Be willing to take the next faithful step, even when it’s the only one in view.
If you needed reminding that boldness was never about having it all figured out, you don’t have to walk this journey alone. I share weekly blog posts for women navigating faith, purpose, and the messy middle of life—right where God is still writing your story.
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— Tami Zanele
