Strong and Courageous

Introduction

Transitions are rarely easy even when we want them. You want to leave home and go to school but the transition of dorm life, establishing new friends, not to mention a new education process is a difficult transition. You want to get married, but after the honeymoon, the transition of establishing your new home with a spouse who seems to have her own way of doing things can make the transition difficult. You want a new job but the newness of that job heightens your uncertainty about your abilities and the future.

And then there are those transitions that you didn’t want to happen. The death of someone you dearly loved leads to all kinds of transitions. Getting fired or laid off from a job and being forced to look for new work. The divorce that left you wandering if you are really that unlovable. Such forced transitions leave us filled with doubts and uncertainty.

Look at Deuteronomy 34:10-12. Imagine Joshua. For the last 40 years he has been Moses’ right hand man. He has been with Moses atop Mt. Sinai and he has stood at the door of the tent of meeting whenever Moses went inside. He has led the army before they entered into the promised land. He has been mentored, tutored, and prepared for the role of leader, but he is no Moses. They don’t call the Law the Law of Moses and Joshua, his servant. They don’t say that Joshua is the great prophet. Capable? Yes. Leader? Time will tell. But Moses he isn’t.

It is in that context that we can understand this initial section in Joshua. A text intended to strengthen Joshua can also remind us of God’s strength for our own lives. As we study today, we will be encouraged to focus on God’s promises and our response to those promises.

The Text

After Moses’ death, Israel spent 30 days mourning. It is now time to move. God tells Joshua it is time to go across the Jordan. Do you think there are mixed feelings? You do know the definition of mixed feelings don’t you? It is watching your mother-in-law drive over a cliff in your new Cadillac. Joshua must have these mixed feelings. Excitement at going into a land that had been talked about for the last 40 years and residual sadness because their great leader isn’t there to lead them. And so the first thing is that God reminds Joshua that nothing has changed. The promise he made to Moses is still going to be carried out.

The change of leadership doesn’t mean that God has changed his mind about his people or about what he is going to do. The promised land has been promised and God will carry through. But more importantly, God reassures Joshua that just as he was with Moses so he will be with Joshua. Notice how definitive God is. “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Wow! Can’t you imagine the thoughts racing through Joshua’s mind. You mean like you were with Moses on Mt. Sinai you will be with me? You mean like you met Moses at the tent of meeting, you will be with me? You mean like you stood with Moses when the people turned against him, you will be with me? And God answers—Yes—Yes—Yes. I will never leave you or forsake you.

Then God calls for Joshua to respond in strength and courage. Because of the promise to never leave then Joshua is to lead the people with the strength and courage of a good leader. To help him in leadership he is to remain close to the Book of the Law. He is to read it, meditate on it, and allow it to guide him as he guides the people. And then in verse 9, God reminds him again that strength and courage belong to Joshua because his presence will be with him.

Application

Joshua would have been a man trying to find his way as leader. To be groomed for a job is one thing, but to do the job especially when your mentor is not around is something quite different. Don’t you know the promise that God would always be with him encouraged him? Don’t you know such a promise provided strength not only at this moment but at other moments as well? Don’t you wish we had such a promise?

Turn to Deuteronomy 31:1-6. Here in a final speech, Moses tells what is going to happen and assures the people that God will be with them. Don’t you know that encouraged them as they prepared to cross the Jordan and to follow their new leader?

Turn to Hebrews 13:5. Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” That same promise to Israel standing on the Eastern shore of the Jordan river; that same promise given to Joshua on the eve of his leading Israel into the promised land; has been given to us.

If Joshua gained strength, can’t we? If Joshua was reassured, aren’t we? Just as in Joshua 1 and Hebrews 13, nothing, absolutely nothing must take God’s place. His presence is always near us.

When we know this promise to be true, then we, like Joshua have strength and courage to carry on. Joshua had the courage and strength to lead knowing God’s promises were real. Look at verse 9. “Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged.” Terrified and discouraged. You have been there, haven’t you? Joshua’s emotions must have been significant. We don’t say such words to someone unless we sense such things are present. We don’t say to someone who is smiling and celebrating “Don’t be terrified.” There must be something which God saw in the depth of Joshua’s being.

Be strong. Be courageous. I am here. I will always be near. God was looking for Joshua to step up. When the promise is given, then we need to step up as well. We aren’t called to greatness, but we are called to act in courage and with strength. Such doesn’t come from within us, but it comes from the assurance of God’s promises.

God is looking for people of courage who will make a difference for his kingdom. When you are listening to God and properly fearing him, you begin to lose your fear of many other things—including people. If you are a person who lives with the fear of not being accepted by the other people in our society, you will never be able to live for God. If you are afraid of not fitting in, then you will not fit into God’s kingdom. If you are one way around your friends and the people you work with, and another way around the people at church, then you will never be able to please God with your life. The closer you come to God the less important it is to have the world’s approval.

One summer morning as Ray Blankenship was preparing his breakfast, he gazed out the window and saw a small girl being swept along in the rain-flooded drainage ditch beside his Andover, Ohio home. Blankenship knew that farther downstream, the ditch disappeared with a roar underneath a road and then emptied into the main culvert. Ray dashed out the door and raced along the ditch, trying to get ahead of the foundering child. Then he hurled himself into the deep, churning water. Blankenship surfaced and was able to grab the child’s arm. They tumbled end over end. Within about three feet of the yawning culvert, Ray’s free hand felt something—possibly a rock—protruding from one bank. He clung desperately, but the tremendous force of the water tried to tear him and the child away. “If I can just hang on until help comes,” he thought. He did better than that. By the time fire-department rescuers arrived, Blankenship had pulled the girl to safety. Both were treated for shock. On April 12, 1989, Ray Blankenship was awarded the Coast Guard’s Silver Lifesaving Medal. The award is fitting, for this selfless person was at even greater risk to himself than most people knew. Ray Blankenship can’t swim.

Where’s your courage to make a difference in your home, community, work, and with friends? God is with you. Be strong. Have courage.

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