In the movie Brave Heart, the Scotts are lined up across a plain from the army of the tyrannical British. The Scottish soldiers start to realize that they don’t want to die for greedy Scottish nobles and so they start to leave the battlefield. But then William Wallas played by Mel Gibson rides in front of the ranks and gives a stringing speech, encouraging the men to stand and fight. The essence of his message is that this is their one chance to win freedom! This type of scene is typical in movies. A rag tag group of fighters is facing an army on the battlefield and the hero gives an epic speech to make them strong and courageous. It makes for good television. 

In movies it seems like things always turn out alright for the heroes. But that is not the case in real life. In real life there are very real dangers and the heroes are not guaranteed to win. If you were standing with the soldiers of Ukraine near the border with Russia, what would you say to make them strong and courageous? If you were driving a relative to a surgery or to their first chemo treatment, what would you say to make them strong and courageous? If you were talking with a friend who lost their job and was about to lose their house, what would you say to make them strong and courageous? In these situations, there are ample reasons to feel weak and afraid. Things might not turn out alright. The Ukrainian soldier might get killed. The surgery or chemo might not be successful. Your friend could very well go through financial ruin.

Joshua had every reason to feel weak and afraid. Moses had just died and now the people looked to Joshua to bring them into the promised land. Joshua was supposed to take a rag tag group of Israelites and conquer the land of Canaan. The Bible tells us the Canaanites were huge warlike people, they had walled cities and iron weapons. How were a bunch of nomad shepherds with no military training supposed to stand up to that? Joshua had every reason to feel weak and afraid. And so God went to Joshua and gave him a rousing speech telling him to be strong and courageous. 

And it is very important to see why God tells Joshua he can be strong and courageous. God Tells Joshua, “No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them” – Joshua 1:5-6. God tells Joshua he can be strong and courageous because God will be with him. God promises Joshua that he will never leave him nor forsake him. And God gave Joshua a special promise that he would have success. Joshua could be strong and courageous because he had the Lord and his promises. 

Now we don’t have a special promise from God guaranteeing we will have victory when we face our trials and troubles. But we do still have God and his promises. And that is why we can be strong and courageous. God has promised us he is with us always. That means we can be strong and courageous because we are never alone. We have a powerful ally who is with us. God has promised us he will forgive all our sins. That means we can be strong and courageous when we face temptation because we are forgiven for the times we have failed in the past. That forgiveness motivates us to resist temptation in the present. God has promised us that he will give us eternal life. That means we can be strong and courageous even when faced with a trial or trouble that might take our life. God has promised he will use troubles for our good. That means we can be strong and courageous even when a trial or trouble weakens us or causes us to suffer. 

Be strong and courageous. Why? Because you have God and his promises.