God Connects Strength and Courage

September 18, 2022

Joshua 1:6 - Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.

Nothing in our lives ever happens without courage. You have to make the decision to actually do something. Whether it’s big, or small, you have to make that conscious decision, and have the courage behind it, to just do it. 

In today’s scripture, Moses has just died and God had given Joshua the assignment to cross the Jordan River and continue on to the Holy Land that God had promised them. He had promised Joshua that He would give His people every place they set foot on and that that no one would be able to stand against them. He went on later in that chapter to tell Joshua to gather all the men in the camp, even the ones that would be staying east of the Jordan, because they would be going with him to fight for the land God gave them.

Wow, they were promised the land, but they still need to fight for it. That had to have been scary! So God was telling them to be strong and courageous. If you read all of Chapter 1, it goes on to tell the people 5 times to be strong and courageous. He must have known they were going to be a little scared! But God was not going to leave Joshua high and dry. 

God connects strength and courage. God can supply the strength. He can make people stronger than they ever thought they could be. But courage is strength in the face of pain or fear. 

If God has called you, He is with you. Courage doesn’t mean you aren’t afraid! It means you fear God more than you fear the environment, it means you trust in God more than you trust those people around you. 

The command to be strong and courageous is an inner strength for those that are in a relationship with God. It’s a strength that you can only get by being in the Word, believing it, and obeying the Word of God. It’s a strength that comes from God alone.