Be Strong and Courageous in the Lord

by Pastor Paul Wolff

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)

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God told Joshua, “Be strong and courageous for I am with you wherever you go.”

The context of Joshua 1 is that the prophet Moses has just died and God was giving directions to his successor, Joshua. Four times in Joshua chapter one God tells Joshua to “be strong and courageous,” and a few chapters earlier in the book of Deuteronomy (chapter 31) Moses tells Joshua twice to “be strong and courageous” and God tells Joshua the same thing once. One gets the idea that Joshua was neither strong nor courageous that he needed such encouragement.

One might think this despite the fact that 40 years earlier Joshua and Caleb were the only Israelite scouts of the 12 who scouted out the land of Canaan who were not intimidated by the Canaanites and their fortified cities and who courageously told the Israelites, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.” (Numbers 14:7-9)

In an article from 2014 (Perfect Love Drives Out All Fear) I showed how courage comes from love, especially from the love of God above all things. Whether Joshua needed such encouragement or not, I do not know. Perhaps God was only reminding Joshua of His love for the Israelites to strengthen Joshua’s courage to do what needed to be done to take the land that God was giving to His people to prepare for the day when all His promises will be fulfilled and the Messiah would be born in that land who would save the world from their sins.

Jesus shows how God loves us like a loving father loves his children.

The courage that God gives to Joshua and the Israelites is not a generic courage to not be afraid in any circumstance. It is a very specific courage. It is a courage to remain faithful to the One True God in the face of all doubt and temptation that the world may use to try to turn you against God, or to fear something above God, which is idolatry. There are so many temptations in the world to doubt God, and to fear what the world could do to us. When Christ’s followers were turning away from him because they found His teaching hard (John 6), Jesus did not beg His disciples to stay. He gave them the opportunity to leave, too, saying “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Peter answered for the disciples, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Likewise Saint Paul had a similar courage from the love of Christ when He wrote to the Romans, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: ‘For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35-39)

If God is with us, as He has promised (See Matthew 28:20 where Jesus said, “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”), then what can the world do to us? The most the world can do to us is to make our lives a little more painful for a little while, and take away our lives, but as sinners we already suffer and we will all die at some point, but all who love Christ belong to God as His children and will live forever with Christ who saves us. Why should we fear the world? Why would we ever turn our backs on Christ who lived and died to save us from the wickedness of this sinful world?

Do not be tempted by the world’s sinful pleasures. Do not be afraid of their empty threats. Do not be discouraged. God has come down to earth to be with you and to save you from sin and death. Jesus lived and died to pay for your sin so that you will live forever with Christ in His heavenly paradise. Be strong and courageous through faith in Christ, for He is the Lord God who will be with you wherever you go.