January 03, 2026 Saturday
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.
Joshua 1:9 (ESV)
I have been spending a lot of time this past week reading, studying, and meditating on Joshua 1 as I prepare to teach a lesson about the key themes found in that chapter. As I have been thinking throughout the week, I keep coming back to verse 9. It puzzled me for a while as to why this verse kept pricking me at various times throughout the day. I don’t feel particularly fearful or frightened. In the normal course of my day, I feel as though everything is going fairly well without many worries. Of course there are troubles as there always will be, but my mind was really coasting along without any apparent worries. Unlike Joshua, I am not embarking on a critical mission, leading millions of people into battle for their long-promised land of inheritance. I am not facing the loss of my leader, mentor, and friend. I am just a normal guy, leading a normal life. Yet, this verse spoken as an encouragement to Joshua in his time of trial is here today calling me to examine myself. To look past the surface level of complacency and deal with the fears and doubts that darken the corners of my heart. A call to understand that just as the Lord was with Joshua wherever he went, so too is Jesus with me at every moment and every step. So I too need to be strong and courageous and confront the areas of disobedience and apathy present in my heart.
I have been coasting along on a tide of apathetic complacency for quite a while. I didn’t really realize this was happening until a few weeks ago. Of course, I knew something was off, but it was easy to deceive myself into believing that everything was normal. It was normal to “take a break” from pursuit of Christ. I would not have phrased it that way, but in a lot of ways, that is precisely where I was at. There was just a deep lack of motivation and ambition for intimacy with Jesus.
This doesn’t mean there was no movement on my part to be with Jesus. I did a fair amount of spiritually intellectual activity. But upon reflection, I can see that there was very little movement into my heart. I was doing a lot of spiritually good things that were worthy of my effort and time. I was just not fully engaging my heart. I was more focused on activity than intimacy.
Honestly, I am still processing this at the moment, but there is a sense in which the fear that this verse keeps pushing me to deal with resides in the fact that I have been afraid of true intimacy with Jesus. I find it difficult even now to write this meditation because in a lot of ways I do not want to meditate and think deeply about this. My heart still drifts into complacent apathy. My heart still wants to just do the “minimum required.” Whatever that really means. Really, it means that I just want to do whatever makes me happy and feels good.
This is why I need the word from Christ telling me to strong and courageous. I need strength and courage to deal with the deeply rooted sin that still clings to and grips my heart. And the beauty of this message to Joshua and to myself is that the strength and courage that is needed for this journey is found only in Christ alone, and the Lord my God is always with me. Jesus is here with me even now. He has prepared a table before me in the presence of my enemies. The intimacy I am so fearful of is the very thing that he desires. Jesus is gentle and lowly of heart. He will care for this bruised reed of a man in a gentle and patient manner. All of this to give me the one thing I truly need… intimacy with my Savior.