(Part 1)
As we began drawing to the close of 2020, I felt the Lord speak to me about 2021. As many people and churches are limping out of 2020 just happy to survive, I felt God say it is going to take tremendous courage to go where He wants to lead us over the next several months.
He wants to move us beyond simple obedience to courageous living. If there were a theme word for the coming year for our church it would be the word Courageous. Courage, although often used interchangeably with the word brave, does carry a slightly different connotation.
Bravery is having the strength to face danger, but courage is the ability to do something that frightens us. As I read that I knew that God was calling us deeper in life, service and worship to Him, but in order to do that we are going to have to be courageous. We are going to have to do some things that frighten us. God wants to take us to a new level of obedience, prayer, generosity, witnessing, and worship. Greater than we’ve ever experienced. However, that means we are going to have to leave behind what is familiar to experience what God has in store for us. That begins with obedience. Courageous Obedience!
“After the death of Moses the Lord’s servant, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant. He said, 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Therefore, the time has come for you to lead these people, the Israelites, across the Jordan River into the land I am giving them. 3 I promise you what I promised Moses: ‘Wherever you set foot, you will be on land I have given you— 4 from the Negev wilderness in the south to the Lebanon mountains in the north, from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, including all the land of the Hittites.’ 5 No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you. 6 “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.”- Joshua 1:1-6
God told Joshua, that Moses was dead and now the responsibility of leading the people was about to fall on him. He was certainly going to be facing some things he had never faced before. He was about to leave a wilderness he had spent 40 years accustomed to living in. Regardless of whether or not the conditions were ideal, he had grown accustomed to the nuances of living in the wilderness.
He would be entering into a land, he had never lived in. He had visited it (spied it out) and believed God would give it to them, but now the reality of crossing the Jordan was on the table. I am sure there was some apprehension. Why? Because God had to reaffirm to Joshua to be strong and courageous several times. Truth is, Joshua had lots of experience assisting Moses, but never leading. He was about to step into a level of leadership that he had never experienced. That is when God makes him a promise. He promised Joshua that He would be with him as He was with Moses.
That is where our courage finds its foundation. It is found in the promise that God will be “with us.” God never promised Joshua that he’d do everything Moses did. Nor did he promise that He’d give Joshua the same relationship with the people or the same skill sets as Moses. He promised Joshua that if he was careful to obey God’s instruction, that he would prosper and succeed in all he did. God was calling Joshua to courageous obedience.
Pastor Scott Burr
Dayspring Community Church A/G
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