Dear Ones:
Joshua 1:8-9
“Do according to all that is written in the book of the law for by doing so you will make your way prosperous and successful. ‘Have I not commanded you?’ says the Lord. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or dismayed for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
My next turn at teaching the adult Sunday school class I will be teaching on the way God gives victory to us in our lives. The scripture I will be using is in the book of Joshua. He was born a slave in Egypt and when he is first mentioned in the Bible he is one of the twelve men Moses sends to spy out the land before the Israelites cross into it. He is very young, maybe in his late teens or early twenties, brave, fearless, optimistic, capable of following orders, a leader in the making. It would take long years of wandering around in the nearby desert, a series of unfortunate events caused by a generation who disobeyed the Lord, and the death of all of those who disbelieved in the promises of God before this man would step into the calling the Lord had for his life.
All of these events were being used by the Lord to train Joshua for the role he would play as he led the people of God into the promised land. Joshua is in his sixties and has become a man trained by the hardships that a life in the desert watching those ones you know and love die from lives of disobedience would bring.
When he begins to take his people into the land the Lord had promised them so many years before we would assume he is strong and fearless. I am not so sure of that. The people tell him they will do their part and be obedient to the commands of the Lord but they wanted him to be strong and courageous. They wanted to know he would be able to lead them fearlessly. Confidently. He is told to be strong and courageous several times by the Lord Himself. Why would those words be used if Joshua weren’t feeling a little afraid and shaky? Who but the Lord truly knows how we are feeling deep inside? Who but the Lord can give to us all we need as we step out and do what He is asking of us?
I want to be strong and courageous as I step out to serve the Lord in the place He has sent me don’t you? I don’t want to have people look at me and say “There she goes, that weak and wimpy woman who serves someone she calls God. Good luck, lady!”
NO! NO! NO! I want to be strong and courageous. With this comes a great promise from God. Strong, courageous, obedient equals prosperous and successful. Joshua was all of that in his life. It wasn’t an easy life nor will it be for us. He had to fight to grab hold of the things the Lord had promised him. Many battles. Many heartaches. Much loss along the way. With the battles came victories. With the losses came a deeper understanding of how important obedience to the Lord is. Victory. What a great word. Won by staying in the fights life brings our way.Never giving up but staying obedient to what the Lord is asking of us no matter what those around us may be doing. I don’t know about you ,dear ones, but I want to be able to hear “Well done, good and faithful servant” when life on this earth is over. I want the victory that comes from giving myself to the Lord and staying faithful to Him no matter what life brings to me.
PeggyB
