Courage Today Equals Joy and Strength Tomorrow…
Good morning and welcome back!
I may have found one of the Bible’s secrets to success when it comes to the deeper joy and strength toward which we are journeying...
If we read through various excerpts from Exodus to Joshua, we will see leading men such as Moses and Joshua able to do great works for God because they never embarked on an assignment without Him. This means that they possessed something mighty which enabled them to cling to God and to put action behind their faith. This mighty thing (and the Bible’s first secret to joy and strength) is courage.
Courage is essentially faith in action, but Moses is definitely an example of someone who lacked innate courage. Rather, he would have to learn it the hard way as he repeatedly exasperated God with his incessant fears and doubts throughout Exodus 33:12-15...
God had specifically appointed Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt to the Promised Land, but Moses was so overwhelmed by the size of the task that he persistently resisted God. Nonetheless, God responded by constantly pledging His steadfast faithfulness to His servant. The knowledge that God would always be with Moses eventually gave him courage during every moment of his hard days, and this faith in action would pave the way to his experiencing great joy and strength of the Lord in all his tomorrows. Moses learned that his courage for today would determine his joy and strength for tomorrow.
Joshua, Moses’ successor, is a model of far more inherent courage. In fact, Joshua obeyed God quite seamlessly as a servant, a warrior and a leader from the start. He fought in numerous battles where he was vastly outnumbered. He risked his life on multiple occasions, but he always pressed on courageously in his everyday moments. Joshua readily realized what Moses had to wrestle to master: courage for today would determine joy and strength for tomorrow.
In Joshua 1:9, we can see all that Joshua took to heart from the Lord...
“Be strong and very courageous. Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you.”
Courage is obviously not always easy, but it comes more naturally when we remember what Moses and Joshua knew: God as their mighty Warrior! God is our mighty Warrior, too, and He knows us by our names. He vows to be by our sides every step of the way. Why then would we ever leave home without Him? Why would we ever choose fear over the courage of today and risk sacrificing the immense joy and strength of our tomorrows?
Friends, as we remember the great lessons of our biblical heroes Moses and Joshua, we have also learned one of the Bible’s sacred secrets to success: our courage (faith in action) today determines our joy and strength tomorrow...
Pssst! Stay tuned! Next week I’ll reveal the second secret!