Be Strong

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go. (Joshua 1:9)

If you’re reading the first chapter of Joshua you should have gotten the message by now. By the time you get to verse nine, the command is repeated three times: “Be strong and courageous”. But, experience teaches us that it’s not enough just to be told to be strong. After all, we already know that strength and courage is a good thing. Usually, this command raises a couple of legitimate questions. (1) Where do I find this courage? (2) How do I muster up this strength? When I studied Joshua this week, I thought of the relevance of a prayer found in the third chapter of Ephesians. Read Paul’s prayer carefully:

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:14-19)

No wonder Joshua 1:9 includes the connection between courage and the presence of the LORD. When Paul prayed for the early church, he understood that without Christ in their hearts they would be weak. He prayed that they would make the connection between real inner strength and the presence of God. In addition, Paul prayed that they would expand their estimate of God’s love. We draw strength from His abiding presence. We find our courage when we embrace the infinite love of God for us.