I
WILL NOT LET YOU SINK!
“Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause
this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. 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 success, wherever you go” (Joshua 1:6-7, ESV).
A timeless technique used to get a point across is
repetition. Not once or twice but three times in the first nine verses of
Joshua 1, Joshua was told to be “strong and courageous.” These
verses were God’s message for Joshua as he assumed leadership after the death
of Moses, and God repeated these words to drive home the point. Apparently God felt
that the quality of being strong and courageous needed to be emphasized and if
it wasn’t understood and embraced, the results would be less than what was
needed for victory.
The first mention 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, in my opinion President Bill Clinton did not, and he led by taking opinion polls and using his personal charisma. This is not courageous leadership. Courageous leadership will not always be popular but it will be true leadership.
The second emphasis on courage is in verse 7; this 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.” 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, for the third time Joshua is commanded to be strong and courageous as he steps out into his future. “Have not I 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.” There is implied here the uncertainty that comes with stepping out into the unknown. Human nature is always fearful and critical of what 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? It is what 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 be with you,” and in verse 9 it is laid out clearly for us: “The Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
The literal Hebrew meaning of the phrase, “I will be with you,” in verse 5 is, “I will not let you sink.” The Patterson New Revised 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 being painted here and the use of the repetition of the command to be “strong and courageous” is not a type of arrogant or haughty leadership. It typifies a leader who is very aware of the complexities of life, of his own shortcomings, but at the same time is totally and irrevocably committed to the Lord, to the Lord’s call on his (or her) life, totally committed to being a useful servant. This person has settled it in his heart and 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! I will hold fast to Him!”
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 someone 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 stand firm and take action.”
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!
The first mention 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, in my opinion President Bill Clinton did not, and he led by taking opinion polls and using his personal charisma. This is not courageous leadership. Courageous leadership will not always be popular but it will be true leadership.
The second emphasis on courage is in verse 7; this 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.” 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, for the third time Joshua is commanded to be strong and courageous as he steps out into his future. “Have not I 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.” There is implied here the uncertainty that comes with stepping out into the unknown. Human nature is always fearful and critical of what 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? It is what 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 be with you,” and in verse 9 it is laid out clearly for us: “The Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
The literal Hebrew meaning of the phrase, “I will be with you,” in verse 5 is, “I will not let you sink.” The Patterson New Revised 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 being painted here and the use of the repetition of the command to be “strong and courageous” is not a type of arrogant or haughty leadership. It typifies a leader who is very aware of the complexities of life, of his own shortcomings, but at the same time is totally and irrevocably committed to the Lord, to the Lord’s call on his (or her) life, totally committed to being a useful servant. This person has settled it in his heart and 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! I will hold fast to Him!”
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 someone 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 stand firm and take action.”
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!
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