Strength and Courage Through Faith

Published in the Omaha World Herald’s “From the Pulpit”

July 27, 2025
Reverend Eric L. Jay

“STRENGTH AND COURAGE THROUGH FAITH”

Moses died before the Israelites were able to enter the land that God had promised to give them.  While Moses was still alive, God told Moses that Joshua would be his successor in leading the Israelites to the promised land. God spoke directly to Joshua in preparing him to serve God faithfully and lead the Israelites successfully.

God tells Joshua three times, “Be strong and courageous.”  Joshua was about to lead the Israelites into treacherous territory.  Nations much larger and more powerful than the Israelites refused to heed the warnings given by God, who created all lands, and instead resisted God and Israel.  Joseph would have to be strong and courageous to say the least.  God was not commanding Joshua to muster up his strength and courage, but instead, to trust God’s promise, His strength, and be encouraged by His faithfulness.

In verse 6, God tells Joshua, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.” Despite the odds and the desperate situation, God was telling Joshua to find strength and courage in God’s promise and His faithfulness to bring that promise to reality.

In verse 7-8, God says, “Be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”

Doing things our way, according to our understanding and our desires, will never prove more prosperous than submitting to God’s Word and His ways.  Even in death, Christ proves God’s Word more powerful through His resurrection from the dead.

In verse 9, God tells Joshua a third time, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

When the odds are against us, and even when we are against ourselves, we find strength and courage in Jesus’ presence with us as the risen and victorious Lord of all who promised never to leave us or forsake us, and through His death and resurrection, proved His perfect faithfulness to His promises.

Whatever challenges are before you, my friend, be strong and courageous through faith in Jesus, the resurrected Christ. He is the one, the only one, who is powerful and faithful to lead us through the valley of the shadow of death and into God’s promised new heavens and new earth.