STEPPING INTO OUR FUTURE - PART THREE

Joshua 1:6-7
“Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.
Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you: do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.” (NKJV)

A timeless technique used to get a point across, to sell a concept is the use of repetition. Not once or twice but three times in these verses we are looking at we are told to be “strong and courageous”. (It actually occurs 4 times in the first 18 verses). Now, either the writer had a problem with a stuttering pen or he was under instruction to drive the point home. Apparently God feels that the quality of being strong and courageous is something that needed to be emphasized and if it wasn’t strongly underscored the results were going to be disastrous.

The first presentation of strength and courage is about leadership (verse 6). The courage to lead is vital; sometimes those who are called upon to lead don’t have the courage to do so and the results tend to be disastrous. I believe President George W.Bush had the courage to lead; in contrast, Bill Clinton, in my opinion, did not and led by taking opinion polls and by using his personal charisma…this is not courageous leadership. Courageous leadership will not always be popular but it will be leadership. Strong leadership will always scare immoral people!

The second emphasis of courage is in verse 7 and was a clear command that Joshua was to have an unswerving loyalty to the Word of God. At times, that kind of fidelity demands the courage to say, “I am going to do what the Word says and not what our times, the culture and opinion polls suggest is correct.” (verse 7). We need a major dose of this in the church right now! I would rather have the blessing of the Lord than the applause of the world!

In verse 9, Joshua is commanded to be strong and courageous as he steps out into his future. “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” There is implied here the uncertainty that comes with stepping out into the unknown. Human nature is always fearful and critical of that which it does not know or understand. The future will always be uncertain to our human spirit but it is never uncertain to our Heavenly Father.

How can we define this strength and courage Joshua speaks of? This is strength and courage that comes out of a relationship and the understanding of a promise. In verse 5 the promise is hinted at and referred to, when it says “I will not leave you” and in verse 9 it is laid out clearly for us. “Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

The literal Hebrew meaning of the phrase in verse 5 is “I will not let you sink”. The Patterson revised standard new amplified rendering is “You may be up to your neck in alligators but your neck is mine and I’m not going to let them get you!”

The word picture that is being painted here and the use of the repetition of the command to be “strong and courageous” is not a John Wayneish (probably not a real word) type of prideful, arrogant, haughty leadership but a person who is very aware of the complexities of life, of their own shortcomings but at the same time is totally and irrevocably committed to the Lord, to the Lord’s call on his/her life, totally committed to being a useful servant. This person has settled it in their heart and their spirit; “I belong to the Lord and I will follow Him all the way. I will go in His strength! I will find my strength in Him…when I am weak He is strong! To Him I will hold fast!”.

True courage and strength does not disregard secular business models and technology but understands that the highest priority is to know God and to discover what His plan is for the future. True courage lays hold of the plan of God and will not let go.

Daniel was a man who showed great courage and his story lives on as an example of a man who thrived in difficult circumstances. One of the great revelations to me personally about Daniel and how he traversed the incredibly tumultuous times he lived in is found in the very revealing statement of Daniel 11:32 “…but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits”.(NKJV)

Now, chew on this awhile! There is a universal application of this truth but Daniel’s statement is part of a prophetic word that finds its greatest fulfillment in the day in which we are alive. Daniel was prophesying about us!