On
Wednesday night, Jon and I joined in one of the high school midweek small
groups. Barry, the volunteer leader for
this particular group, shared a challenge that we have heard him give to
students many times before. The
challenge was to say yes to God before even knowing the question. Such a challenge should be easy and logical
since we know that God is sovereign, good, just, loving, all-knowing, and all-powerful. Yet, we fear what discomfort, rejection,
pain, or loss He might ask us to endure.
Tension creeps into our shoulders as we ponder which dreams He might ask
us to delay or sacrifice completely. Blind
to the future, we struggle to overcome the feeling of risk that accompanies
that depth of surrender.
Of
course, we desire to see the mighty works of God and His plan brought to
fruition, but are we willing to do whatever He asks of us to fulfill our role
in that plan? Joseph became Pharaoh’s
right-hand man, saved his family from the famine in Egypt, and was a key
component in God’s design to preserve and grow the nation of Israel, but he
also endured years of betrayal, slavery, false accusations, imprisonment, and
abandonment in the process. How serious
are we about following Jesus? How
dedicated are we to His will? Is He
worth any trial, test, or risk we could face?
Many of us claim to have surrendered to Him completely, and we pray to
Him to work miracles in our lives, but we freeze up when He calls us to action. How can we find the strength and the courage
to instead say yes to God, regardless of what He asks?
After the death of Moses, God called
Joshua to the daunting task of leading Israel, a nation of former slaves, to
take possession of the promised land, which was inhabited by established cities
of idolatrous people and warrior giants.
Joshua had seen the nation say no to God once before out of fear, and he
had wandered in the wilderness along with them for forty years as a result. His “yes” attitude when he first served as a
scout (Num. 13:8, 16-14:10) had been overshadowed by the cautious majority. Now, in the first chapter of the book of
Joshua, God encourages His chosen leader and commands Him to be strong and
courageous (three times!) as he continues to live with wholehearted surrender
to God’s will. In His charge to Joshua
(Josh. 1:2-9), we also see three keys to finding strength and courage for
ourselves to have a “yes” attitude toward God.
1.
Believe God’s Promises (vv. 2-6)
God had promised to give the land to
Israel. Joshua knew this, but God
reminded Him of it once again. God has
also given us all sorts of promises. For example, He
promises that He will finish the work He started in us (Phil. 1:6) and that He
will work all things for the good of those who love Him (Rom. 8:28). These are promises that we can cling to, and
when we believe that God will do what He promised, we can find the strength to
keep going. When we can’t see the whole
picture, we can look back on God’s promises and find the courage to keep saying
yes to the only One who never breaks His promises.
2.
Obey God’s Precepts (vv. 7-8)
Being strong and courageous is very closely
tied to obedience in this whole passage and particularly in verses 7 and 8. God reminds Joshua not only to be obedient in
the monumental task of leading a nation to conquer a land, but also to be
obedient to the whole Word of God. As we
are obedient to God’s Word in the little things, the truth and goodness of His
precepts are made even more evident to us, which emboldens us to continue to be
obedient when God gives us radical and life-altering callings. In addition, God more often than not works His will in and
through us by the means of our individual choices, not by a large display of
instant Divine intervention. We beg God
to do a miracle in restoring our marriage, but are we willing to forgive our
spouse? When we feel the weight of
financial burdens and plead with God to provide, are we willing to change our
spending, saving, giving, and working habits to align with Scripture? If we are careful to follow His way in all of
the little things, we will have more clarity and discernment to obey and find
success in the big things.
3.
Remember God’s Presence (vv. 5, 9)
God’s presence in this passage is
found both as a promise (v. 5) and as a comfort (v.9). This particular promise of God’s presence was
directly to Joshua, but we have the same promise and comfort in Hebrews
13:5b-6. The knowledge that God does not
leave us alone to try and do what He wants us to do allows us to boldly step
forward in obedience in spite of our fears.
With the God of the universe at our side, what reason could we possibly
have to fear man? The One who split the
Red Sea, the One who provided manna in the desert, the One who lowered Himself
to the point of infancy for our sake, the One who carried the weight of the
punishment for our sin, and the One who conquered the grave is with us. He is with
you.
In our relationship with God, He is
in – He is all in. If you have any doubts about that fact, go
back to the cross. Even while we were
directly opposed to Him and even when we spat in His face with our disobedience
and unbelief, He left heaven to come down in the lowest and most dependent of
positions just to grow up and be tortured and killed by the ones He came to
save. Now, He is alive, and He reminds
us that He is still all in – we need only to believe. As the truth of His love sinks into our
hearts, how could our natural response be anything other than
reciprocation? No one wants to be in a
one-sided relationship. No one wants to
give their all to someone only to receive a fraction of that person’s heart in
return. He has given us all that we need
to find the strength and the courage to say yes to Him. Are you willing to go all in with Jesus?
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