Be Strong and Courageous

 

By Jessica Van Roekel Crosswalk.com

“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 1:9

Autumn unfolds slowly with leaves that transition from varying shades of green to yellow to gold to brown. Leaves flutter to the ground as the wind blows. If summer brought enough moisture, the leaves look like yellow jewels on a green velvet background. Other years, all is brown too soon, and my soul quakes at a monochromatic winter of browns and grays.

Our lives reflect seasons. We have seasons of growth and seasons of dormancy. Winds and storms blow through our lives with varying degrees of ferocity. I revel in perfect fall days when the sky stays blue, clouds scud along the horizon, and the breeze cools my sun-warmed cheeks. All is perfect except for one thing. The pirate bugs. These tiny black insects flock to exposed skin, and their bite feels bigger than their size warrants.

Like fall with its wonder and its painful pirate bugs, life holds pain and wonder. At times wonder exceeds pain, and other times pain overtakes wonder. We can wander through the wreckage of unmet hopes and dreams, or we can fail to enjoy the blessings because we’re on the lookout for the next big bad thing that is going to happen. However, in both cases, we can walk by faith.

Joshua and the Israelites were on the cusp of entering the long-awaited promised land. Out of all the Israelites, it was Joshua and Caleb who had first-hand knowledge of the wonderfulness of the Promised Land. Long ago, they were two of the ten spies sent to scope out the land. Because the other eight spread fear and doubt, the Israelites wandered in the desert for forty years.

The same task awaited them now as it did then. Conquer and take the land. The book of Joshua opens with God commissioning and reassuring Joshua. His task is to be strong and courageous, to remember God’s word and obey. God doesn’t say that it will be easy or that they won’t have troubles. Instead, God promises Joshua his presence.

When our lives feel like a hurricane swept through, it’s easy to fall prey to the idea that God has abandoned us. When we face an enemy—whether it’s a person or a diagnosis, or our own self-sabotage—we can remember God’s words to Joshua.

Be strong and courageous: The Hebrew word for strong and courageous expresses the strength of various phenomena, such as the severity of famine, storms, and humans overpowering one another like David and Goliath, Amnon and Tamar, and Samson’s last act of supernatural strength. Moses urged Joshua to be strong. God bid Joshua to be strong—don’t give up, give in, or run away—and then Joshua encouraged his people in the same way.

In Joshua 1, we read how God instructed Joshua not to turn from God’s ways. He was to meditate on it day and night—to let God’s word fill his mind and thoughts. When storms come our way, it’s easy to let their fierceness distract us. But, when we choose to make God’s word our guiding authority for our beliefs and actions, we can recognize and respond to God’s presence in every area of our lives. Unknowns abound. Unanswered prayers and times of waiting are opportunities for us to know and obey God’s word and believe that he is with us.