By: Dale Weckbacher
Joshua 1:10-11
And Joshua commanded
the officers of the people, 11 “Pass through
the midst of the camp and command the people, ‘Prepare your provisions,
for within three days you are to pass over this Jordan to go in to
take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving you to
possess.’”
(ESV)
In a chaotic society with rapid
change, it becomes difficult to prepare.
Most of us gave no thought to preparing for a pandemic and why there was
a run in stores on cleaning supplies and hand sanitizer when the pandemic broke
out, but I still don’t understand the run on toilet paper. While there have been racial riots in the
United States before, the tragic death of George Floyd shocked us but even more
shocking were individuals taking advantage of a tragic death to further a
political agenda. The ensuing riots mean
that many reading this, including me, now live under a curfew at a time when we
were beginning to feel comfortable going out after a pandemic. At times like these when changing events make
planning and preparation difficult, it becomes even more important to prepare
our hearts by spending time with the Lord for while events going on in the
world may surprise us, God is not surprised and has plans for our good and not
our destruction (Jeremiah
29:11).
Joshua has been to the Promised
Land before and was one of two returning with a positive report believing God
would help Israel defeat the giants in the land (Numbers
14:6-8). However, Joshua and Caleb
found themselves in the minority with the other 10 spies giving a negative
report (Numbers
13:30-33). It is not unusual for one
believing in Jesus Christ as his or her savior to find themselves in the
minority for we are foreigners living in a corrupt world but can have courage
in knowing we will meet God and receive a new body from God (2
Corinthians 5:1-10). Even though Joshua
lived under the Old Covenant of the law, he had spent forty years with Moses in
the wilderness (Exodus
24:12-14; 33:11) and during that time God prepared his heart for this
moment when he would lead Israel into the Promised Land. Followers of Jesus Christ can follow Joshua’s
example of preparing our hearts by,
1) Spending
time with God (Exodus
33:11) – During the time of the Exodus, God spoke to Israel through
Moses. In Exodus
33:11, Scripture tells us that Joshua would not depart from the tent of
meeting when Moses would enter the tent to hear from God. I had a conversation this week with a pastor
friend of mine who shared an incident that occurred when he was first starting
in ministry. He shared how he came into
the Church early one day and heard the senior pastor speaking to someone in his
office. As he approached the office it
became apparent the senior pastor was praying.
My friend, like Joshua, stood outside the door and heard the pastor
fervently pouring his heart out to God. This
event left a lasting impression on my friend by stressing the importance of
preparing our hearts by spending time with God.
2) Joshua remained true to his calling from God (Joshua
1:1-9) – Joshua has received a commission from God to lead the people of
Israel into the promised land. While
Scripture is unclear as to what was going through the mind of Joshua after
receiving this calling, he may have remembered the bad report of the 10 spies
and feared a mass revolt as the people crossed the Jordan and saw the enemies
they would face. This could explain why
God told Joshua three times to be strong and courageous (Joshua
1:6,7,9). Hearing three times from
God to be strong and courageous and forty years spent with Moses outside the
tent in the wilderness in heart preparation converge at this point to empower
Joshua to lead. Joshua may have had doubts
based upon what occurred after his first visit to the Promised Land, but after
hearing from God himself, he has the courage to approach the officers of the people. Even if it meant going in alone, Joshua was
not about to abandon the calling God place on his life.
3) Steps
out in faith (Joshua
1:16-18) – Joshua’s commitment to his calling is contagious with the officers
of the people not cowering in fear like the 10 spies giving a bad report (Numbers
13:30-33) but instead vowing to go with Joshua (Joshua
1:16-18). The officers of the people
have caught a good contagion of faith that will lead to the occupation of the
Promised Land.
As the year 2020 began, we did
not envision or prepare for a global pandemic that would shut down the country,
including houses of worship. We did not
envision that after the pandemic went away and the country reopened, that we
would face racial riots across the nation that led to many needing to shut down
again under a curfew. However, God’s
people should never shut down but constantly prepare their hearts. God’s people must spend time with God, not
just on Sunday, but throughout the week through prayer, study, and meditation
on God’s Word. God’s people must not be
fearful of fulfilling their calling from God for fear is not from God (2
Timothy 1:7) but remain strong and courageous (Joshua
1:9). God’s people must then take the
shield of faith (Ephesians
6:16) and step out knowing God is with them wherever they go (Joshua
1:9). In a chaotic world, God’s
people have a calling to take the Gospel to the nations (Mark
16:15; Matthew 28:19-20). My prayer
is that God’s people would courageously step out like Joshua and share the Gospel
message with the lost in the land. The
question we all must ask is do we have the courage and faith to step out.
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