After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. 3 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. 4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory. 5 No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. 6 Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:1–9
As I was reading this today I reflected on what it means to be strong and courageous. Sounds like a bit of manly man stuff really. I suppose I need to just buck up. I need to “just do it.”
But is that what God is really saying? Not really.
Notice that God is tasking Joshua with something pretty heady. God says to Joshua, “for you shall cause this people to inherit the land.” This is no easy mission God has for Joshua. It’s going to be hard.
And God says that Joshua should “be strong and courageous” and “only be strong and very courageous.” God then tells him to do according to the law of Moses and to meditate on God’s law day and night. Then Joshua would be prosperous and have success.
Notice that God frames all this by these words: “Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you” and “for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
God will be with him. He tells Joshua to a)do this hard thing because God has promised this hard thing, b)meditate on God’s word, c)be strong and have courage, oh and by the way, d)God will be with him and not leave him.
In other words, have faith for the mission you’re on because God has promised success in the mission he has given you. Be in God’s word and know that God is with you.
Does that mean everything we do in life is successful and will prosper? Not at all. Has God promised us material riches? Nope. But he has promised us that he will provide what we need (see Matthew 6:25–33).
My job is to be in God’s word where I will find wisdom and direction and to trust God to fulfill his promises, all while moving forward with strength and courage because God has promised success. He will ultimately fulfill all his promises.
