I was listening to a podcast sermon yesterday and the speaker quoted Joshua 1:1-7. The Lord, speaking to Joshua in this passage says in verses 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 father to give them.(7) 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."
As the speaker read this passage, I was suddenly struck by something in my hearing that I have never thought of...nor did the speaker even mention. Look at how verse 6 & 7 begin...first God says, "Be strong and of good courage." Then in verse 7 he says, "Only be strong and very courageous." Be courageous. Be very courageous. Obviously the Lord was emphasizing the importance of courage to Joshua.
But something else hit me. First off, it's clear that the Lord will never call us to a task that is in the bounds of what we believe we can do. It's not like he said to Joshua, "go mow the grass" or "do the dishes." No, the task God was asking of Joshua was not an everyday, "I can handle this" kind of task. You see, God sees more in us than we see in ourselves. Why? Well, I believe He understands much more than we do that His Spirit is truly in us. He looks at us and says, "I have called you to do the impossible. The only way this will be done is if you truly rely on me. Reliance on me will not only teach you pure trust as my faithfulness is revealed, it will also bring you in to total freedom! In order for you to truly rely on me, you must do what only I can do." Think of what Jesus charged us with in Matthew 10:7-8 and then echoed in Mark 16:15, 17-18: Preach the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. All of those things, yes even preaching the Kingdom of heaven, is impossible apart from Him. Yet...we have freely received His Spirit to do it! Praise God!
But this isn't even what struck me. What hit me is that when we are engaging with God in our walk of faith, when we are doing the trying tasks that He called us to do, we must realize that there will be a moment when fear and discouragement tries to paralyze us in our task. Picture this: God calls us to the impossible and in courageous faith we say, 'Yes, Lord!' We are then faithful to take the steps of faith, pressing on doing whatever it is that is stretching us in our trust in Him. The ball is rolling...we're actually doing it! We are courageous! But then, seemingly out of no where, the heat gets turned up. Maybe the task gets greater, the opposition gets darker, the diagnosis gets bleaker. Whatever the case, we are suddenly standing on the battlefield feeling all alone as we stare into the face of intimidating fear . The fear is taunting saying everything from, "you have no faith!" to "this is simply God's will for it to end like this." Often, without even knowing it, our courage turns to butterflies in our stomach.
And this is what hit me: in this moment is when we must dig our heals in and go from 'be strong and courageous' to 'be strong and be very courageous!' You see, even those who we see as giants in the faith come to a crossroad that requires them to go deeper in their courage. Just when you thought it was all daisies and ice cream cones, you suddenly realize, "Wait. I'm still in a battle." The writer of Hebrews put it like this, "Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised." (Heb. 10:35-36)
I believe there are many saints who have fought faithfully in the trenches for years. They have loaded their spiritual guns countless times, standing firm in the love of God, taking up courage every day as they put on their armor. I also believe the enemy is coming out on the battlefield to meet them in this season and is increasing the cannon fire. Like Goliath causing Israel's hearts to melt with fear, he marches out and confronts the saints level of courage. But over the battlefield I hear the Lord say, "Only be strong and very courageous!" But he doesn't leave it there. For he is also speaking over us what he went on to tell Joshua, "Do not be afraid nor be dismayed for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." He has given us His Spirit. In order to move on to the next level of courage, we must close our eyes and see that the One to whom the battle belongs is in us. We belong to Him. His Spirit is in us. No matter what level of courage you are in need of today, know that the Lord is with you. It is not your faith that saves the day...it is HIM. He and he alone is able to change the situation. It does not rest on your shoulders. It rests on HIS...and you are held in his arms. All we are called to do is keep our eyes on Him and with as much faith as we can muster say, "Yes Lord" once again.
As the speaker read this passage, I was suddenly struck by something in my hearing that I have never thought of...nor did the speaker even mention. Look at how verse 6 & 7 begin...first God says, "Be strong and of good courage." Then in verse 7 he says, "Only be strong and very courageous." Be courageous. Be very courageous. Obviously the Lord was emphasizing the importance of courage to Joshua.
But something else hit me. First off, it's clear that the Lord will never call us to a task that is in the bounds of what we believe we can do. It's not like he said to Joshua, "go mow the grass" or "do the dishes." No, the task God was asking of Joshua was not an everyday, "I can handle this" kind of task. You see, God sees more in us than we see in ourselves. Why? Well, I believe He understands much more than we do that His Spirit is truly in us. He looks at us and says, "I have called you to do the impossible. The only way this will be done is if you truly rely on me. Reliance on me will not only teach you pure trust as my faithfulness is revealed, it will also bring you in to total freedom! In order for you to truly rely on me, you must do what only I can do." Think of what Jesus charged us with in Matthew 10:7-8 and then echoed in Mark 16:15, 17-18: Preach the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. All of those things, yes even preaching the Kingdom of heaven, is impossible apart from Him. Yet...we have freely received His Spirit to do it! Praise God!
But this isn't even what struck me. What hit me is that when we are engaging with God in our walk of faith, when we are doing the trying tasks that He called us to do, we must realize that there will be a moment when fear and discouragement tries to paralyze us in our task. Picture this: God calls us to the impossible and in courageous faith we say, 'Yes, Lord!' We are then faithful to take the steps of faith, pressing on doing whatever it is that is stretching us in our trust in Him. The ball is rolling...we're actually doing it! We are courageous! But then, seemingly out of no where, the heat gets turned up. Maybe the task gets greater, the opposition gets darker, the diagnosis gets bleaker. Whatever the case, we are suddenly standing on the battlefield feeling all alone as we stare into the face of intimidating fear . The fear is taunting saying everything from, "you have no faith!" to "this is simply God's will for it to end like this." Often, without even knowing it, our courage turns to butterflies in our stomach.
And this is what hit me: in this moment is when we must dig our heals in and go from 'be strong and courageous' to 'be strong and be very courageous!' You see, even those who we see as giants in the faith come to a crossroad that requires them to go deeper in their courage. Just when you thought it was all daisies and ice cream cones, you suddenly realize, "Wait. I'm still in a battle." The writer of Hebrews put it like this, "Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised." (Heb. 10:35-36)
I believe there are many saints who have fought faithfully in the trenches for years. They have loaded their spiritual guns countless times, standing firm in the love of God, taking up courage every day as they put on their armor. I also believe the enemy is coming out on the battlefield to meet them in this season and is increasing the cannon fire. Like Goliath causing Israel's hearts to melt with fear, he marches out and confronts the saints level of courage. But over the battlefield I hear the Lord say, "Only be strong and very courageous!" But he doesn't leave it there. For he is also speaking over us what he went on to tell Joshua, "Do not be afraid nor be dismayed for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." He has given us His Spirit. In order to move on to the next level of courage, we must close our eyes and see that the One to whom the battle belongs is in us. We belong to Him. His Spirit is in us. No matter what level of courage you are in need of today, know that the Lord is with you. It is not your faith that saves the day...it is HIM. He and he alone is able to change the situation. It does not rest on your shoulders. It rests on HIS...and you are held in his arms. All we are called to do is keep our eyes on Him and with as much faith as we can muster say, "Yes Lord" once again.
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