Strong and Courageous
Scripture
“Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
-Joshua 1:6–9 (NLT)
Joshua had just received the most daunting handoff in Israel’s history. Moses was dead. The promised land was ahead. And between Joshua and that inheritance stood fortified cities, intimidating armies, and the memory of a generation that had looked at the same land and turned back in fear. They had seen themselves as grasshoppers and the giants as too large. They had forgotten who was with them. God does not repeat Himself three times by accident. Be strong and courageous. Be strong and very courageous. Be strong and courageous. The repetition is not poetic flourish. It is pastoral. God knew what Joshua was facing, and He knew what Joshua was feeling.
But notice what God ties the courage to. It is not a pep talk about Joshua’s abilities or a reminder of his track record. It is a promise. The Lord your God is with you wherever you go. That is the game-changer. The courage God calls us to is not self-generated. It is grounded in a reality outside ourselves, in the presence and power of the One who is sending us. And alongside that promise comes an instruction. Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night. Because courage is not just a feeling we wait for. It is built over time, through steady immersion in the word of a God whose promises have never failed.
“Let us expect that God is going to use us. Let us have courage and go forward, looking to God to do great things.”¹ — D.L. Moody, To the Work!
Moody understood the Joshua principle. Courage that goes forward is not courage that ignores the obstacles. It is courage that keeps its eyes on a God bigger than the obstacles. And that is exactly what God is inviting Joshua into here. Not denial of the difficulty, but a reordering of perspective. The land ahead has giants. But the God going with you created the giants. That changes the calculation entirely.
This is our story too. The same God who walked with Joshua walks with us. He has not changed. He still calls His people forward into places that feel too large for them, with a promise that He goes ahead. So wherever you are facing something that feels impossible today, hear the same three-times-repeated word. Be strong and courageous. Not because the road is easy. Because He is with you.
Reflection:
- Where in your life is God calling you to be strong and courageous right now?
- Are you daily grounding yourself in God’s Word, or has that practice become inconsistent or optional?
- How might remembering God’s presence with you help shift your mindset when fear or discouragement creeps in?
Prayer:
Ask God to fill you with strength and courage to face the challenges before you. Thank Him for His constant presence and faithfulness. Pray for a renewed hunger for His Word and a heart that trusts Him fully, even when the road ahead feels uncertain.
Footnote:
¹ D.L. Moody, To the Work!: Exhortations to Christians (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 1884), 39.