We had felt like Meriwether Lewis and William Clark as they prepared for their journey to explore the vast and newly acquired Louisiana Purchase. Our bags were packed full of warm clothing and extra sleepwear, we had the proper provisions to make fire in several different ways, we had stores of food, water filtration systems and iodine tablets, tarps, tents, and we had even checked the weather in the weeks leading up to our long-awaited outdoor winter adventure. The forecast had called for over 2-feet of fresh powder in the days leading up to our backpacking trip. So, we made sure we had the proper time-off work, could leave at the earliest hours of the morning, and navigate the potentially snowy roads. We had felt prepared that we knew of the many obstacles that come with a winter camping trip, and we had done everything we could up to this point before setting out on our journey. However, upon the first sight of bumps in the road our resolve was tested, and our planning was tried.
As we approached what we knew might be a snow covered, yet plowed parking lot, we were woefully mistaken. A three-foot-tall bank of plowed snow from the road sat between us and the fresh powder covered parking lot that we assumed lay somewhere beneath the blanket of fresh fallen snow. So, it was 4-wheel drive or bust! We put that thing into gear, put the pedal to the floor, and stampeded our way through the bank and into the middle of the parking lot. Now that obstacle number one was behind us, we quickly slung our gear onto our backs and approached the trailhead. The trail was buried in snow and not recognizable. So, without snowshoes, and with pure grit and determination, we set out to blaze a trail over the next six hours into our campsite that sat less than two miles away. We knew the journey would be difficult, and it was, yet our knowledge of the obstacles that lay ahead made encountering them manageable, knowing that we had the strength and support to overcome them. Likewise, our text today, and for the week, lies within the idea of procuring our strength, resolve, determination, courage from something that stands outside of our own will and ability. We knew that some obstacles waited for us, but we also knew that our strength and abilities alone would not be enough for us to overcome those obstacles, but we trusted in our preparation and planning to get us there. The difference between our winter backpacking trip, and the text for today, is that Joshua found his strength and courage in something that was outside of himself, which was not his planning or preparation, but the hope that he had in the Lord to carry him through the pain and struggle that sat just over the horizon.
To be strong, courageous, not afraid, nor discouraged… That’s a bold call, a stern command, and a challenging summons. Especially in the midst of what lay ahead. Through Moses, God calls the Israelites and Joshua to be strong and courageous! However, that strength, courage, boldness, resolve, and power was not a characteristic that lay within the heart of an individual. This was not a strength to be earned or mustered up out of our own gumption, planning, nor preparation. Rather, it is found in the promises of the Lord. Here, the Lord warned Moses and Joshua of the trouble to come, of the people who would whore themselves out to other gods and selfish passions. Essentially saying that the people you’re going to lead, the people you are going to tire yourself to influence, the people that you will invest your efforts into, will ultimately become failures who forsake God, and his anger will burn against them… now that’s depressing…
For Joshua, there was no number of early mornings, cold showers, meditation, mustering, college degrees, or self-discipline that could prepare him for the future of leadership that lay ahead. Instead, knowing that it wouldn’t be easy, he would have to find all his hope for today and strength for tomorrow, in the one that holds today and tomorrow. In every instance that we see the call to “be strong and courageous” in Deuteronomy, Joshua, and elsewhere in the Old Testament, it is preceded by or followed up with the reality that it is GOD working and GOD sustaining his people through it. Take heart, it will not be easy, but the Lord goes before us and is there with us!
As we approached what we knew might be a snow covered, yet plowed parking lot, we were woefully mistaken. A three-foot-tall bank of plowed snow from the road sat between us and the fresh powder covered parking lot that we assumed lay somewhere beneath the blanket of fresh fallen snow. So, it was 4-wheel drive or bust! We put that thing into gear, put the pedal to the floor, and stampeded our way through the bank and into the middle of the parking lot. Now that obstacle number one was behind us, we quickly slung our gear onto our backs and approached the trailhead. The trail was buried in snow and not recognizable. So, without snowshoes, and with pure grit and determination, we set out to blaze a trail over the next six hours into our campsite that sat less than two miles away. We knew the journey would be difficult, and it was, yet our knowledge of the obstacles that lay ahead made encountering them manageable, knowing that we had the strength and support to overcome them. Likewise, our text today, and for the week, lies within the idea of procuring our strength, resolve, determination, courage from something that stands outside of our own will and ability. We knew that some obstacles waited for us, but we also knew that our strength and abilities alone would not be enough for us to overcome those obstacles, but we trusted in our preparation and planning to get us there. The difference between our winter backpacking trip, and the text for today, is that Joshua found his strength and courage in something that was outside of himself, which was not his planning or preparation, but the hope that he had in the Lord to carry him through the pain and struggle that sat just over the horizon.
To be strong, courageous, not afraid, nor discouraged… That’s a bold call, a stern command, and a challenging summons. Especially in the midst of what lay ahead. Through Moses, God calls the Israelites and Joshua to be strong and courageous! However, that strength, courage, boldness, resolve, and power was not a characteristic that lay within the heart of an individual. This was not a strength to be earned or mustered up out of our own gumption, planning, nor preparation. Rather, it is found in the promises of the Lord. Here, the Lord warned Moses and Joshua of the trouble to come, of the people who would whore themselves out to other gods and selfish passions. Essentially saying that the people you’re going to lead, the people you are going to tire yourself to influence, the people that you will invest your efforts into, will ultimately become failures who forsake God, and his anger will burn against them… now that’s depressing…
For Joshua, there was no number of early mornings, cold showers, meditation, mustering, college degrees, or self-discipline that could prepare him for the future of leadership that lay ahead. Instead, knowing that it wouldn’t be easy, he would have to find all his hope for today and strength for tomorrow, in the one that holds today and tomorrow. In every instance that we see the call to “be strong and courageous” in Deuteronomy, Joshua, and elsewhere in the Old Testament, it is preceded by or followed up with the reality that it is GOD working and GOD sustaining his people through it. Take heart, it will not be easy, but the Lord goes before us and is there with us!