Joshua 1

I’m sitting in an airport lounge waiting to go to somewhere I have never been before. You would think maybe this would help me relate to Joshua, but no. It’s not helping.

He’s been here once before, saw the land they are going to, thought it was a great place, and was denied the chance to go there. So he wanders with the rest of them for 40 years, and now, finally he’s back.

This time he’s in charge though. After so many years, right at the edge of the promised land, Moses has died. God hands authority over to Joshua and commissions him to lead the invasion. God promises to be with him and ensure he succeeds, and His instructions are fairly simple: be strong and courageous.

Anything else? No, not yet, just be strong and courageous, although judging by the amount of times God says it, Joshua may have had a hard job taking it in.

Personally I’d prefer lots of specific instructions to busy my mind with. ‘Be strong and courageous’ leaves way too much room for worrying – which then undermines the whole ‘’being strong and courageous’ thing.

But much of our calling from God today is similar – follow Him and trust Him, rest in the love he has for us and be content with that. And do this in a society that does not relate or understand us, being prepared to explain why we are confident in our God, and He can promise to give us the strength we need and the words to say when we need them, but that still leave lots of room for worrying, which as I mentioned before, kind of undermines the whole ‘trust God and rest in Him’ thing!

 

Richard