Joshua 1 – Brandon Hatmaker “Pride”
Thursday, July 24th, 2008
"Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses.” - Joshua 1:2-3
Pride is a dangerous thing. I’ve always thought that if anyone was set up for prideful thoughts, it would be Joshua. Here’s a guy who was Moses’ aide, and has been commissioned by God to be “The Man”. His was told that he would be the one to lead the people to realize their biggest dreams. And they committed to follow him.
They say that power corrupts. Joshua now had the power.
Yet I don’t see this danger in Joshua (at least not in the first chapter). Instead, I try to place myself in his shoes. I would be scared to death. I think I would be so overwhelmed by this daunting task that I would be shaking in my boots. Joshua obviously had a very healthy fear of the Lord. God wouldn’t have chosen him for this task if he hadn’t. With that perspective, I bet Joshua felt incredibly humbled by this new assignment. I bet he even felt under-qualified.
But God gives him some strong words of both warning and encouragement. His warning was to stay in God’s Word and to meditate on it day and night. To not let it depart from his mouth. His encouragement was to "Be strong and courageous”. God didn’t have to tell him to be humble… he probably already felt those emotions… instead, three times in four verses God tells him to “Be strong and courageous”. Why, because this thing is so much bigger than him. He was just a part of God’s amazing plan. Joshua understood that.
Once again it goes back to perspective. When we remember who God is and who we are NOT, we realize that apart from Him we truly can do nothing. Then all Glory goes to Him, not to us. Then we are humbled, moldable, teachable, and we take the posture of learners… even as leaders, because we pursue the things of God, not of ourselves.
I gotta be honest with you, in a performance driven world, this really takes the pressure off! Jesus really meant it when He said that if we’ll abide in Him, He’ll abide in us. Remember? Apart from me, Jesus said, you can do nothing.
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Good thoughts today. I think Joshua would have been flat frozen with fear. I would have been. In the coaching world you never want to replace a legend. The track and field coach at the small college here in town is a legend. He has won 26 consecutive conference titles. 26 in a row! That is going to be a hard act to follow. Moses was a hard act to follow. How would you have liked to try and improve on that leadership? I think Joshua was chosen by God because God knew he would draw his strength from God. If Joshua didn't draw strength from God, he would not make it.
ReplyDeleteGreat commentary, you guys. I totally agree with you both.
ReplyDeleteThe two words that jumped off the page for me today were "strength" and "courage."
They show up three times in 18 verses (Message translation) and it's this running theme over and over and over again of God reminding Joshua that he is the man. God's chosen leader for this chapter in history.
And yes, he had a healthy fear, and huge shoes to fill...and the immensity of the moment could have so easily consumed him that God just built him up in a huge way with these two words.
God speaks to us all. He calls us out to fulfill the plans and purposes he had for us before we were even born. And those plans and purposes are always fraught with uncertainty and fogginess and the unknown.
But a good friend of mine gave me some solid wisdom a few weeks ago and it was this - God just wants us to take the next step with great confidence. God makes clear not the whole journey, but just the next step...and he promises to be with us as he reveals our purpose one piece at a time.
"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, love and self-discipline." - 2 Timothy 1:7
Strength...courage...in all things when we walk with Him!