God told Joshua in Joshua 1:6-7 to be “strong and of good courage.” Being physically strong gives us physical courage. More importantly, spiritual strength gives us spiritual courage and encouragement. We know that when our ways please God, He backs us up and gives us needed spiritual strength to fulfill our individual responsibilities.
The reason we can have the assurance of God’s help is that God promises never to leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). This is the same promise He made to Joshua in Joshua 1:5: “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor FORSAKE you.” This means, through thick and thin–in good times and in bad times. In that we can have confidence!
The other side of the coin is this: When we are weak physically or spiritually, we can easily get discouraged. And then, we can become targets for our adversary–Satan the devil–to influence our thinking and thereby affecting the way we conduct ourselves.
How can we, as God’s people, remain on the strong and encouraging side of the coin? One way is to follow the admonition in 1 Peter 5:6-7, to humble ourselves under the MIGHTY hand of God and to cast ALL (not some of) our care upon Him, KNOWING that He CARES for us.
If we can bear this truth in mind in the face of trials and adversity, we will strengthen our resolve not to get discouraged, but rather, to remain powerful in the LORD.
As long as we are strong and of good courage, doing His Will in our lives, we can be assured of the fulfillment of God’s promise never to leave us nor to forsake us–because He cares for us and our potential to be in His Kingdom. He has an “investment” in us, so to speak. So let us “pay” God “back” for His goodness, by making sure that we remain faithful, hopeful and confident–being strong and of good courage.
