Bold

Read: Joshua 1:1-9

Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9

IN WORD

There must be a reason God repeats this instruction to Joshua three times in the space of four verses and surrounds it with assurance after assurance. Joshua must be afraid or tentative or reluctant. But God insists that this is not a time for fear. His promises are not to be entered into tentatively.

Most of us would claim not to understand God’s promises as clearly as Joshua did. After all, God had spoken quite clearly over the course of a generation. Joshua even understood the promise forty years earlier, when he and Caleb reported about the land with hope. And now that the people were about to enter, God had clearly not changed His mind. These were remarkably precise directions. Obviously Joshua was to step forward in strength and courage.

We are too. As reluctant as we can be to claim we’ve heard God’s voice, He has nevertheless clearly spoken about some things. He has sent us into the world with a strong message and the power to reflect His nature. He has given us promises about prayer and strength and courage. He has assured us that love, joy, and peace are possible in this age. He has invited us to exercise the authority of the Kingdom with the wisdom of the King, available simply by asking. He has pledged that we will overcome obstacles with faith and evil with good. In other words, He has laid out in front of us vast territories that we have not yet taken.

IN DEED

That’s the mission of the Kingdom—to possess territories that are not currently under God’s reign. We don’t do that with the same attitudes and strategies familiar to other Kingdoms; this is not a hostile takeover. No, it’s an uprising that wins the world with the goodness of God, which He has promised to display to all who receive Him. The battle may be different from Joshua’s, but the certainty of victory is not. We have nothing to be afraid of. We can live with unbounded trust that He is with us wherever we go.

ADDITIONAL READING: Psalm 18:30-36

To know the will of God, we need an open Bible and an open map.

WILLIAM CAREY