Joshua 1
Look at the way God encouraged and
strengthened Joshua in verse six. “Be strong and courageous, because you will
lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give
them.” What is the basis for
strength and courage in this verse? It
is the faithfulness of God! God told
Joshua he would be successful in his new role as leader of the Israelites
because the conquest of the land was a fait
accompli. In other words, it was a
done deal because God had sworn to give that land to Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob. God was inviting Joshua to look
back over the generations and see his faithfulness. He had promised the land to the patriarchs. He had put Joseph in Egypt to provide rescue
for Jacob and his clan in the time of famine.
And even though a Pharaoh rose up who did not know Joseph and who
enslaved the Hebrews, God preserved them throughout the generations. And now God was saying to Joshua, “I promised
this land to your forefathers. You have
seen how I have led my people through the wilderness. You have observed how I have provided for
them. You watched as I proved my
faithfulness to Moses. Now I am going to
use you to take them into the land. So
be strong and courageous!” Joshua was
able to find the strength and courage he needed to lead Israel because he knew
God’s faithfulness.
Where should we go in order to find
examples of God’s faithfulness? We go to
the Bible. There we find countless
illustrations of God’s faithfulness.
What did he promise Abraham? He
promised him the land and a nation of descendants. He told Abraham that he would give him all
the land where he set his foot. He told
him to look at the stars in the sky and count them if he could. His descendants would be more numerous than
those stars in the sky. Now his descendants
were preparing to enter the Promised Land and scholars think there were at
least a million of them!
The examples of God’s faithfulness
are too many to count. He promised David
that he would have a son sitting on the throne of Israel for eternity. He promised the Jewish exiles in Babylon that
he would return them to Jerusalem. He
promised his Messiah who would come and save his people from their sins. He promised Jesus he would raise him from the
dead. In all these things we see the
faithfulness of God.
Now think of the promises God made
to his people in the New Testament.
These promises are given to the church and the church is us! He
says that he is working all things out according to his will and purpose. He promises us that everything he is doing
will work out for our good. He tells us
that if we need wisdom all we have to do is ask for it. He promises that his Holy Spirit will teach
us, lead us, empower us, and be with us.
He promises that he will provide for all our needs. Have you seen God keep his word in your
life? Has he proved himself
faithful?
I have many illustrations of how God
has shown his faithfulness to me but one stands out in my mind. When our oldest son, Aaron, was a baby we had
to take him to the doctor and the bill came out to $98. It was $98 that we did not have at the
moment. We decided to pray about it and
ask God where we could get the money for the doctor’s bill. We told nobody about our need. After a few days we found an envelope in our
mailbox with a note and some money. The
note was anonymous and it said, “As I was praying for you the Lord led me to
give you the cash in my wallet so here it is.”
It was $98 exactly! What is that
thing in your life for which you need strength and courage? Here is something that will strengthen you
and give you the courage to follow through.
God is faithful. He will not let
you down. You can count on him for
everything!
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