Dear Friends,
“Moses my servant is dead.” It is one of the most poignant and powerful phrases recorded in our Bibles. Found in Joshua 1:2, and uttered by God, these words mark a moment of transition for a leader. Joshua has grown-up as a leader in the shadow of Moses. Now the heavy mantel of leading the people of Israel has moved to his shoulders. The next words out of God’s mouth laid out the overwhelming task set before Joshua. “Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them–to the Israelites.” God knows the responsibility he is placing upon Joshua is a terrifying and overwhelming one. First God promises Joshua he does not lead alone. “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you” (1:5). Then three times he tells Joshua to “Be strong and courageous.”
“Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them” (1:6). Joshua’s task was not a new one. It was not a vision conceived in his heart. This vision was conceived in the very heart of God and it was his plan for his people from the earliest of days. In Genesis 15 God speaks to Abraham and says “To your descendants I give this land . . .” (v. 18). This is God’s plan so it is God who will make it happen. Therefore, Joshua can be strong and courageous because the work he is doing it not his but God’s. As leaders today the task we face can be overwhelming. The work we do can be very lonely. Jesus understood this. Just as he made the promise to never leave Joshua he makes the promise you and I as well. Jesus’ last words, recorded in Matthew are the promise, “surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (28:20). In addition to the knowledge we do not lead alone we do well to also remember the task we are called to is not our own. The plan we work is not our own. Today, we do not possess a land as Joshua did, rather we bring the Kingdom of God. We bring the good news of Gospel to all the nations of the world. A task we cannot possibly do. But we do it with strength and courage because it is not our task to do but rather God’s task to accomplish through you and I.
How does the knowledge that our responsibility as Christians is not our plan empower us? How does the knowledge of God being with us as promised by Jesus, change the way the face our fears?
Blessings,
Pastor Stephen