Times Three

 This morning, I was reading in Joshua. Deuteronomy ended with Moses's death. As the book of Joshua opens, Joshua had to be in a state of mourning. He'd walked and worked with Moses (his mentor) for over 40 years. It had to be a huge loss to Joshua. God comes and tells him that Moses is gone and it's time for Joshua (who was not a young man anymore) to carry on the promise God made to take His children to the Promised Land. 

I found the charge God gives Joshua very interesting. There were no burning bushes like Moses had. No fire fell out of heaven. Josh didn't even get a rumble of thunder, Lol. His call was simple - carry on the mission. 

What stood out to me today was that three times in verses 6 through 9, God told Gideon to be strong and courageous three times. Not once, even though that might have been enough. But God said it three times. I think He must have wanted to emphasize it. Perhaps Joshua was really scared. I would have been! I mean, seriously, Joshua knows Moses is gone, the one who has led them the whole way until now. And at the same time, maybe he looked at the hundreds of thousands of people who have come through the wilderness experience. And God's saying - let's get going, son! God made it very clear, in my opinion, that there was no room for fear, only courage and strength.

But what I really love is that God took the time to reassure Joshua that there was no need for fear.

Sandwiched between the three phrases is an admonition to cling to the word. Be strong and courageous - hold to the word, read the word, obey the word, study the word, and meditate on the word - Oh, and be strong and courageous. Looks like a recipe for success, to me. God's telling Joshua just how to make it through.

We can take a lesson from this. We often stand between loss and moving forward. It can be very uncomfortable and frightening. How are we to make it through? We must be strong, we must be courageous. We must focus on what God says. That's our recipe for success! 

Today, when I feel weak, discouraged, tired, or confused... I'll remind myself that God is still with me. No matter if I am standing between loss and the unknown - I know God is still present. He is still leading and He isn't going anywhere but forward. Today, I will follow. I'll take to heart His instructions to Joshua - be strong and courageous. I'll take a deep breath and whisper a prayer for God to strengthen me as I trust Him for one more day. Will you join me?

 Peace Out! It's in the Bible is a 31-day devotional that is focused on letting God's peace reign in our hearts - no matter what. You can get the eBook from my shop at Buy Me A Coffee. Or the print and kindle versions are available in my Amazon Shop.