Be Strong and Courageous
Do not tremble or be dismayed,
for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go
Joshua 1:6–9
Our culture has now sunk to the very lowest point of wickedness. Because of America’s rejection of the gospel, in addition to other depraved abominations she celebrates, we have now exceeded the evils of Sodom and Gomorrah and will one day experience a similar judgment. Given the seriousness of the times in which we live, and the deadly influence Satan’s world systems are having upon the church, many pastors and church leaders feel overwhelmed, frightened, powerless, and defeated. If this is you, I wish to encourage and challenge you.
We must remember that none of this catches God by surprise. In His sovereignty, He maintains absolute rule and authority over all things; He is the One who, “[declares] the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, ‘My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure’” (Isa. 46:10). Knowing God is fully aware of and in charge of all that happens instantly delegitimizes thoughts of abandonment, indifference, or randomness (though in our humanness, we are bound to feel otherwise). Indeed, He is a sovereign, not a contingent, God. There is therefore nothing in our life He has not ordained to accomplish, allow, or understand completely, including the sufferings, tragedies, and atrocities we experience.
We can find great comfort in knowing there is nothing that can thwart His sovereign purposes to build His church and bring glory to Himself, despite even our fears and failures. What He expects of us is to be faithful and obedient warriors who rely solely on His power to accomplish only what He can do in and through us. We see this most dramatically in God’s instructions to Joshua when the mantle of leadership was given to him after the death of Moses, and he received his military commission for the bloody conquest of Canaan. His marching orders must be ours as well. Here’s what God commanded Joshua:
Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go (Josh. 1:6–9).
While we are not commissioned to exterminate the wicked militarily or in any way take revenge upon them (Rom. 12:19), we are commissioned to make disciples through the preaching of the gospel (Matt. 29:19–20). To accomplish such an arduous mission in Satan’s kingdom of darkness requires our utmost exertions in faith and godliness. But fortitude alone is insufficient. Our strength and courage are only found in the Lord who has promised, “[A]nd lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (v. 20)—the same promise He made to Joshua, “for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Josh. 1:9). May we all rejoice in these promises and allow them to sustain us in the fight.
© COPYRIGHT NOTICE 2023 BY DAVID HARRELL AND SHEPHERD’S FIRE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
