HumbleDisciple

BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS.

I used to think those words were simply meant to comfort people. Then I started paying attention to when they were spoken.

Moses said them to Israel before they entered the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 31). Yehovah said them to Joshua as he stepped into Moses' place (Joshua 1). David said them to Solomon before he began building the Temple (1 Chronicles 28:20).

Then I noticed something else. When Yehovah tells Joshua to be "strong and very courageous," He immediately explains what that courage is for: "𝘉𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘩 𝘔𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘋𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵..." (Joshua 1:7)

The courage wasn't just for facing enemies.
It was for staying faithful to Yehovah's instructions. Knowing what Yehovah wants is one thing. Living it out can be another.

It takes courage to keep the Sabbath when your workplace doesn't make it easy. It takes courage to stop eating what Scripture calls unclean after a lifetime of doing otherwise. It takes courage to question traditions you've always been taught when the Word says something different. Sometimes it even takes courage to stand quietly, without arguing, and simply keep walking in what you've become convinced is true.

I've found that some of the hardest moments in my walk weren't when I didn't understand Scripture. They were when I did understand it.
And now I had to decide whether I would obey.
That's where faith stops being theory.

Joshua wasn't told to be strong because there would be no battles. He was told to be strong so he would not turn from Yehovah's Torah, to the right or to the left. Solomon wasn't told to be courageous because building the Temple would be simple. He was about to carry out the work Yehovah had entrusted to him.

Yehovah also gave Joshua the reason:
"𝘋𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘠𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘰." (Joshua 1:9)

Maybe that's the reminder some of us need today. Not more knowledge. The courage to obey what we already know.