Courage to conquer

Be strong and Courageous

It can’t have escaped you notice that Be strong and courageous gets repeated a lot in these verses. Four times, three from God to Joshua and one from the people to Joshua.
The same phrase occurs in three other contexts in the Old Testament.

First, there is Deuteronomy 31. This is Joshua being commissioned by Moses. Second there is David charging Solomon with the task of building the Temple (1Chron.22, 28). Third, is when Hezekiah and all the people of Jerusalem find themselves under siege by the king of Assyria. Be strong and courageous says Hezekiah to the people of the city.

But how do you define strength ad courage?

For Joshua and Solomon it’s connected with “seeing a job through”. For Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem, the issue was facing the enemy in an apparently hopeless situation. No one else had stood up to Assyria, what hope Jerusalem?

Of course we know that it was not the measure of the individuals that made the difference, but the character of God who invested in them. The strength and courage that Joshua needed was born out of three things:

Faith in God

Faith, in Joshua’s case, is seen in the courage he needs to see the job ahead through to it’s completion. His faith would be tested and he would need the courage to commit and to trust God. Courage based on faith, based on trust in God.

Marj Saint, the widow of Nate Saint prayed this prayer when she was 16: God’s will in my life whatever the cost. That’s courageous faith. That’s not the lightweight kind of faith that buckles under stress.

This kind of faith goes on trusting God when the fog descends, when there’s no clear distinct direction to follow. When things are not getting resolved, faith goes on trusting God who is able to resolve all things.

Faithfulness to God

Of course faith does not walk unaccompanied. Joshua is also told to stick with the relationship. He is to meditate on the law, learn it, and obey it.

In other words, Joshua is called to have faith in God and faithfulness to God.

The faithfulness of God

So far this has looked like a one-way street. But we know that a relationship with God is a two-way street.

In the Old Testament we read often a phrase like: If you will be my people, I will be your God. Ezekiel, Isaiah and Jeremiah all have a sense of it.

You cannot read far through the Bible without realising that God is committed to people. Time after time he demonstrates his faithfulness, even when the people don’t show theirs.
The outworking of God’s faithfulness in our lives is the strength we receive from him.
In Psalm 28 we’re told: The Lord is my strength and shield; in Ps. 46: God is our refuge and strength, and ever-present help in trouble. Isaiah says: The Lord, the Lord, is my strength and song. And Paul tells Timothy that when he made his first defence, not one stood by him but the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength (2Tim. 4:17)

And it was Paul who wrote those words we know so well: I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength (Phil.4:13)

The faithfulness of God is expressed through:

The enduring presence of God

As I was with Moses, I will be with you

The enduring promise of God

The land I will give you

The enduring power of God

God would demonstrate his power by providing safe passage through the river, by tearing down the walls of Jericho and ultimately by keeping his promise to give the land to the people.

Conclusion

It all sounds great doesn’t it?

Be strong and courageous. But what if your courage had failed, what if your strength has gone, what if your faith has come up short? What then?

Jesus offers us great hope.

In the first place he says: Faith as small as a mustard seed can move a mountain. That’s pretty encouraging. If he will move a mountain based on a little faith, then what can he do with the faith you’ve got!

In the second place, he promises never to leave or forsake us. That holds true even when our faith wavers. God is not fickle, he’s not driven by feelings. If he promises his presence he will give his presence.

The challenge of this passage is quite simple: Do you have the kind of faith that trusts God with your life.

Joshua was about to step out in faith like he’d never done before. I don’t know how nervous he felt, I don’t know how prepared he felt, but I do know that he’d decided to follow God, to take him at his word. But even then God had to tell him several times to be strong and courageous.