Be Strong and Be Courageous

Be Strong and Be Courageous

Joshua 1: 1 – 6

Joshua 1: 7 – 9

July 26, 2026

Life is full of transitions. Whether we like it or do all that we can to avoid it, change or transitions are inescapable. We graduate from school. We begin a new job. We retire. We move to a new city. Children leave home. Churches welcome new leaders. Sometimes the changes are exciting; sometimes they are painful. Sometimes we choose them; other times they choose us. One thing about transitions is certain in every case. Every new season requires us to leave something familiar – something known and perhaps even comfortable - behind.

Joshua understood that feeling. Moses - the greatest leader Israel had ever known - was dead. For forty years, Moses had led God's people through the wilderness. Now the responsibility rested on Joshua's shoulders. Ahead of him was the Jordan River, fortified cities, and battles yet to be fought. Joshua was standing between what had been and what could be.

Many of us know that place. We stand at the threshold of a new season wondering, "Can I really do this? Am I enough? What if I fail?" Into the whirlwind of Joshua’s uncertainty and fear, God spoke, and friends, God speaks words that still speak to us today.

God begins by saying, "Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan….." The first words God spoke to Joshua acknowledged a painful reality. Moses was gone, but God's mission continued.

Every pastor, every leader, and every church member is part of God's larger story. We are privileged to serve for a season, but Christ alone is the Head of the Church. Ministries change. Leaders change. Congregations change. Yet God's kingdom continues to advance. Today is not the end of God's work here. It is simply the beginning of another chapter. The same God who blessed us together yesterday will guide you into a brilliant new tomorrow.

God does not allow Joshua to remain stuck in grief and fear over the death of Moses and his ascendancy to the leadership of Israel. The past is honored - but the past is not where the future will be found. There comes a time when looking backward must give way to looking forward.

Many people never enter God's future because they spend all their energy longing for yesterday. We are tempted to long and say, "Things used to be better. I wish life could go back." Or my favorite 7-word sentence, “But we have always done it this way."

In my first church, I had a model of a Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton – a fearsome and apex predator of its time. Around its neck – around the neck of this long-dead and extinct dinosaur - was a sign that said, “But we have always done it this way.”

But God says, in the face of change, "Get ready." God is always calling His people toward His future. The question is not whether life will change. The question is whether we will trust God enough to move with Him.

Three different times in this passage, God tells Joshua, "Be strong and courageous." Why repeat it? Because Joshua was afraid. Friends, God never tells people not to feel fear. God tells them not to let fear become their master. Courage is not pretending everything is easy. Courage is taking the next faithful step – even in the midst of fear - while trusting God.

Today's fears may look different from Joshua's. We fear making the wrong decision; financial uncertainty; losing relationships; aging; starting over; leading others; failing publicly. Yet even in the midst of these fearful transitions, courage remains the same. It is choosing faithfulness over fear. As Nelson Mandela once observed, "I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it." The Christian would add, “We triumph over fear because we know God walks with us.”

The most comforting words in the passage are these: "I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you." Notice what God does not say. God does not say that he will remove obstacles. God does not say that he will guarantee a smooth and easy transition. Instead, God promises what will be the most important thing as Israel moves into a new season. God promises to be with them.

That changes everything. Joshua's confidence was never supposed to rest in Joshua. It rested in God. The same is true for us. We often believe that confidence comes from experience, education, personality, or resources. Certainly, those things help. But biblical confidence comes from knowing whose presence goes before us.

The Apostle Paul would later write in his letter to the persecuted church in Rome, "If God is for us, who can be against us?" Confidence in the face of transition is not self-confidence. It is God-confidence.

God tells Joshua to meditate on his Word day and night. That seems unusual. Before entering battle, we might expect military strategy. Instead, God speaks about Scripture. Why? Because victories are often won long before battles begin. The greatest battle is deciding who will direct our lives. God tells Joshua, stay rooted in my Word. Walk in my ways. Trust God’s promises.

Our culture measures success by material means. The hallmarks of success are popularity, wealth, influence, and achievement. God….. measures success by faithfulness. It is faithfulness that bears the fruit of abundant living – not material success.

Notice that Joshua was walking into territory God had already prepared. That territory had been prepared for them for over 40 years. The last time they were at this place, the last time they were poised to enter the Promised Land, they let fear and a lack of trust turn them away from God’s leading. That fear led them into the desert of 40 years of wandering.

God had already promised the land, this land, the Promised Land. God already knew every obstacle. God already knew every victory. Joshua was stepping into a future God had already seen.

In the face of change, in the face of a new season of faithfulness, this is true for us as well. Tomorrow may surprise us, but it never surprises God. The diagnosis didn't surprise him. The job opportunity didn't surprise him. The retirement didn’t surprise him. The new beginning didn't surprise God. Our future is unknown to us, but it is fully known to God.

Perhaps today you are standing at your own Jordan River. Maybe your new season is the beginning a new ministry, becoming a parent or grandparent, starting over after loss. Retirement. Perhaps your new season is a new career, a new church chapter, a new pastor.

In the face of change – in the face of transition - listen again to God's words.

Be strong - not because you are naturally fearless. Be courageous - not because the future is predictable. Do not be afraid - not because there are no challenges. Be strong, be courageous, do not be afraid, for the Lord our God will be with you wherever you go. That promise has never expired.

C. S. Lewis once wrote, "There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind." Joshua discovered that. Israel discovered that. LNPC will discover that. And every believer who trusts God as they move into a new season discovers the same. The God who was faithful yesterday, will be faithful tomorrow. The God who led you through the wilderness will lead you into the promise.

So do not allow fear to color the next chapter of your story. Walk forward. Trust deeply. Stand firmly. The God who calls you into a new season also walks beside you every step of the way. Amen.