Joshua 1.9

‘Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.’ Joshua 1:9

This is one of those verses that I’ve known for a long time yet never really looked up or really thought about. Frankly, it’s one of those Christian soundbytes that I have very little ability to perform in practice yet wield it happily to anyone else who seems like they need a little boost. The logic of encouraging someone with something that means nothing to me is beyond me yet one of those things I just seem to do, vaguely hoping that the new recipient will find something in it that I could not.

So I tried reading it again but in its full context and I realised something. The main reason I have been unable to take hold of it was that the ‘the Lord your God will be with you’ is a distressingly filtered down version. And by filtering it down it has quickly lost its power and impact.

When I first read the whole verse I was somewhat perturbed. ‘Have I not commanded you’ it says. I don’t know about you but when I try to help people I do my best not to ‘command’ that they do this or do that. I try to encourage and soothe their difficulties, showing understanding and care, before gently or sometimes courageously suggesting an advice and supposed wisdom. But this verse seemed to go against that. I was confused.

Thankfully I realised the error of my judgement and it was this: When I’m talking to my friends about her boyfriend troubles or his concerns for the future, I am ultimately talking as a peer, someone who might have been through those troubles or someone trying to understand them from the outside. I have no position to comfort really, my wishful ‘it’ll be ok’ or optimistic ‘I’m sure things will sort out soon’ have no power and no punch. Ultimately they have no authority, and this is where me and God differ in the most significant manner possible!

God is the maker of the universe! He made you and me! He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end! He’s not commanding us to be courageous like an insensitive autocratic manager. He’s saying ‘heck guys, This is ME! I’VE commanded you not to be afraid, not to be terrified. ME! The maker of all things! You don’t think I know what I’m talking about?!’ He’s simply stressing how insanely narrow minded we can be to be terrified and that if we open ourselves and focus on who is telling us to be courageous, then it’ll be so much easier!

Paul echoes this sentiment thousands of years later, saying ‘if God if for us, who can be against us!’ (Romans 8.31) Once we are able to get a handle on this truth, verses like Joshua 1.9 really live out their true and intended power. The same power that, at the time, led Joshua to take the Israelites into the promised land against all human sanity…

- Anon