No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

                                                                                                                 Joshua 1:5-7, 9 

Read: Joshua 1

It’s a lesson that every believer in Jesus Christ should learn and it comes at the very beginning of the Joshua account. Joshua’s job was to lead the people into the land that God had promised to them and to take that land as their own possession. There would be resistance as there were fortified cities and people groups who were not inclined to just step back and watch the people of God take this land. But God’s instruction to Joshua was clear, “Be strong and courageous!” Joshua was to approach his mission with strength and courage. Why? It was because the Lord was going to be with them every step of the way.

I wish I could say that I was able to epitomize that kind of strength and courage all the time, but I can’t. Perhaps you have had bouts with fear and doubt along your journey. But God doesn’t judge nor condemn us for being human. But what He does desire is for us to trust Him and to place our full weight of faith on Him.

There is a parable told by Jesus that I believe demonstrates what strength and courage are to look like in the church today. It goes like this: 

For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey. Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents. In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two more. But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

                                                                                                            Matthew 25:14-18 

The parable demonstrates that all believers in Jesus have been given certain gifts and talents that they are to use for the common good. Not all of us are gifted the same and these gifts can vary in type and quantity. In the parable, the man gave one person five talents, another two, and yet another one. But I believe that this parable is less about the gifts and more about the response that each of the recipients made in receiving the gifts. Two of these people used their gifts wisely and they yielded a return. The last person however, did just the opposite. He hid the talent in the ground. I believe we can assume that he did this out of fear. In other words, he wasn’t being “strong and courageous” with his gift. It was fear that drove him to squander the very thing he had been given to use.

Now the talents mentioned in the parable represent a quantity of money. But I believe that we can apply this same principle to our lives as we assess what has been given to us. This includes money, resources, gifts, and talents (use in the non-monetary fashion). We are to take what we have been given by God and use it for His glory, for the betterment of the church, and for the proclamation of the gospel to the world.

For Joshua it was leading the people of Israel into the land that God had promised. But what about you? What is it that you have been given to use? Do not let fear and doubt get in the way of fulfilling your purpose in this life and as you venture out, be strong and courageous!