Joshua 1:6-9
Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them. Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

Joshua faced kind of a daunting task. Here was Israel finally at the edge of the Promised Land hundreds of years after the promise was first made to Abraham. Moses was dead, the one who’d seen God face-to-face and received the law and led the people out of Egypt. And now it was Joshua who would go forward to the battles ahead, and his charge from God was to be strong and courageous. He could be both of those things firstly because God’s promises are sure. What God says will come to pass is exactly what will happen. He had promised this land to Israel, and He would enable them to possess it. Joshua just had to trust that God would do so.

It takes strength and courage to obey God. Obedience to God’s Word would keep Joshua in that right place with God where He could work in his life. Knowing God’s Word would build up Joshua and equip him to go out and do what God wanted him to do. And God’s command to Joshua was to be strong and of good courage. He was a leader of men but a follower of God, and strength and courage were needed for the task ahead. Finally, Joshua could be strong and courageous because God was with him. God never leaves nor forsakes, and He Himself is the source of strength and encouragement.

In our lives, we can trust in these same truths to give us strength and courage for whatever lies ahead. We can know God’s promises are sure. We can rely on His Word. We can live in obedience. And we can know that God is with us no matter or where His call would take us. A reliance on God and His Word can give us the strength we need for a difficult battle and the courage to face a strong enemy head-on. We are never alone in those things, and we never have to rely upon ourselves to accomplish what God has placed before us.