Carrie Bryant tells about the time her brother moved to California, and her parents needed to get his car out to him. Her Mom decided to drive the car out and then her husband would fly out for Christmas, and they would fly home together. But the day before the trip, her mother fell and broke her left wrist and had to have a cast which went up to her elbow. She decided to go anyway and plotted her trip through Indiana and on to California. About the fourth day of the trip she called home. She was in Texas, not far from some of their friends, but she had been so tired that she pulled off the road for a short nap. When she woke up she drove to a restaurant where she got some coffee and called her friends. As she stepped outside the restaurant, a man came up to her and asked if she was driving a Ford EXP with Michigan plates, and whether she had pulled off the road somewhere earlier. She was somewhat apprehensive about being questioned by him, but he assured her that he meant no harm. Once she answered his questions, he asked her to wait while he made a call and then he would explain. When he returned, he told her that truck drivers had been following her since Indiana. One of them had noticed this little white-haired lady, with a cast on her left arm, driving a stick-shift across the country, and they took it upon themselves to watch over her. They watched to see what motel she stayed at each evening, and in the morning another driver would pick her up and continue the trip. If they had to exit, another trucker would take their place. When she pulled off for a nap, they lost sight of her and were about to call the State Police. They were still looking for her when one of them spotted her car at the restaurant. She had no idea that somebody cared enough about her to do something like that. She had been driving all those miles and never knew that someone was watching after her night and day.
As the Israelites were on their journey they too were being watched and cared for. Imagine what it must have been like to be constantly under God’s protective eye and his watchful care. And yet they acted as though God did not care about them at all. God had reassured them over and over of his love for them, and he had proved his love with powerful deeds on their behalf, but they did not believe he cared for them. They complained that God hated them and had only delivered them from Egypt so he could destroy them (Deuteronomy 1:27). When God asked them to go into the Promised Land of Canaan they complained that it was too difficult and dangerous, and that God did not care about what would happen to them. The Israelites were not too different from us. God blesses us and cares for us. He watches over us and spares us, and we continue to act as though God has never acted on our behalf or done a thing for us. We forget the blessings of the past and act as though they never happened. God had watched over the people of Israel the whole way, when they were awake and when they were asleep, but it was as if God had never shown them that he was look after them in love and concern.
However, there was one man who stood out among the people of Israel and was unlike all the rest. He was one of only two people who made it all the way from Egypt to Canaan, because the rest died in the desert because of their rebellion and refusal to receive what God was giving them. This man’s name was Joshua. He was one of the few who were willing to believe God against all odds. I want us to look at Joshua’s life this morning to see what made him the kind of man he was. First of all, Joshua’s greatness can be explained in that: Joshua learned from Moses. In our culture of radical individualism this is not often seen as an attribute. We talk about self-made men. We say, “I did it my way.” But Joshua knew that to become a great man of God he needed to model his life after a great man of God. From the time that Moses led the people out of Egypt, Joshua was Moses’ right hand man. He was his shadow wherever he went. When Moses went up on Mt. Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments, Joshua accompanied him part way up (Exodus 32:17). Moses appointed him as the commander of Israel’s army and anointed him to be the one who would lead Israel after his death. The Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay your hand on him. Have him stand before Eleazar the priest and the entire assembly and commission him in their presence. Give him some of your authority so the whole Israelite community will obey him” (Numbers 27:15-20).
Joshua had the important quality of humility and knew the importance of being mentored. He got next to Moses and learned all he could about being a man of God and a leader of people. Joshua was born in Egypt and knew what slavery was like. He had watched Moses as he led the people out of the land of slavery. He walked through the Red Sea. He was watching Moses and learning all he could, so that he could be a man God could use in the future. Joshua was the kind of person you should be. He wanted his life to have a spiritual impact on the world. He wanted to experience God’s best in his life, and one of the ways he discovered that was sitting at the feet of a man who had ahold of God.
Let me say that if you are not copying this principle in the life of Joshua you will not be all you could be. If you are trying to be a spiritual lone ranger you won’t get very far. If it is just you and Jesus marching around together you will not grow much in the Christian life. If you do not have a teachable spirit then you will never learn. If you are too proud to sit at someone else’s feet then don’t expect anyone to sit at yours, because you will not have benefitted from the lessons of another Christian’s life. When I entered the ministry, I deliberately became an associate pastor before I became a senior pastor. Fortunately, I had a man who had years of experience and a great deal of wisdom in many areas, and was well respected in our conference. It was the wisest thing I have ever done in the ministry and I still reap the benefits of that mentoring relationship today. When I was in college and seminary I sought out other Christians with whom I could pray and share with on a regular basis. Our Bible study fellowships here are vitally important because of this principle. If you want God’s best for your life you are going to have to have other Christians in your life. We were designed for relationships, and you can’t grow without other people to challenge and encourage you to be more than you can be by yourself.
But, secondly, Joshua not only learned from Moses, Joshua listened to God. Joshua listened to Moses, but he also listened to God and did not confuse the two. Joshua learned from Moses’ mistakes as well as his successes. He did not see Moses as infallible. If Moses did make a mistake he was not crushed and disillusioned, because his eyes were on God. He needed Moses and would never have been the man he was without him, but his primary affection was upon God. He desired to serve him and make his life count for him.
Hear what God said to Joshua: “I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses” (Joshua 1:3). He said, “No one will be able to stand up 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” (Joshua 1:5). And then God encouraged him by saying: “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go” (Joshua 1:6-7). When God appeared to Moses in the burning bush, Moses protested loud and long. He did not want to do what God was calling him to do, and he wasn’t sure God could pull it off. But here, Joshua listens to God and believes what he says. There is not one word in all of Scripture where Joshua questioned or complained about what God told him. He not only listened to what God said, he did what God said.
God said, “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:8-9). One of the important ways that Joshua listened to God was by paying attention to his Word. God’s Word not only told him what to do, but the kind of person he was to become.
However, there was one time when Joshua did not listen to God. I believe he would have listened, but he did not take the time to ask God what to do. He thought he knew what to do — and he made a serious mistake. God had told Joshua not to make treaties with any of the nations in the land where the Israelites were to settle. But one day a group of men entered the camp with their clothes worn, and with only a few supplies. What little food they had was moldy and dry. They told Joshua and the leaders that they had heard what the Lord had done for them and wanted to make a treaty with them. They said they were from a distant land, and gave as evidence their clothes which had worn out on the long journey and the scraps of food which were covered with mold. The Bible says, “The men of Israel sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord. Then Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live, and the leaders of the assembly ratified it by oath.” The next verse says, “Three days after they made the treaty with the Gibeonites, the Israelites heard that they were neighbors, living near them” (Joshua 9:14-16). These people would be a constant thorn in Israel’s side and lead them astray spiritually. Here is the important lesson: It was not that Joshua was unwilling to follow the Lord’s instruction, it was that he did not take the time to inquire of the Lord. He thought that this was one call he could make on his own and did not ask the Lord for guidance. This lesson from Joshua’s life is a warning for all of us. You may be a person who is willing to do anything the Lord tells you, but either because you are so busy, preoccupied or just sure you already know what God’s will is on a certain issue that you do not take the time to ask for God’s direction. You will end up doing the wrong thing by default. Don’t make Joshua’s mistake of failing to inquire of the Lord.
There was a cartoon of Calvin and Hobbes where Calvin says, “You could step in the road tomorrow and — wham! — you get hit by a cement truck. That’s why my motto is, ‘Live for the moment!’” “What’s your motto?” he asks Hobbes. Hobbes dryly replies: “Look down the road.” When we are merely living for the moment we sometimes forget to look down the road. More importantly, we fail to ask God to tell us what’s down the road.
The main thing that God told Joshua was that he was to be strong and courageous. There would be many dangers for Joshua to face, and the only thing that would see him through was to put his faith in God. He would be going against all odds. The enemies he would face would be larger, more in number, and better equipped militarily. The task was overwhelming and the people were frightening. It is always frightening to follow God and face people who are sometimes against us. It may be a person you are related to, or someone you work with. It may be an acquaintance who is hostile to your faith. It is in those times that God calls us to be strong and courageous. Sometimes you have to be willing to stand against the majority. During the heyday of the former Soviet Union, the Communist Party sent KGB agents to the nations’s churches on Sunday mornings to monitor who was there and what was going on. One agent attending a service was annoyed by the deep devotion of an elderly woman who was kneeling at a life-size carving of Christ upon the cross and kissing his feet. “Babushka,” said the KGB agent, “Are you also prepared to kiss the feet of the beloved general secretary of our great Communist party?” “Why, of course,” the old woman said. And then she added, “But only if you crucify him first.”
My definition of courage is: “That state of mind that fears God to the point that there is no room left to fear anything or anyone else.” I like the sign that said: “Success comes in cans. Failure comes in cant’s. Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss it, you will land among the stars.” If you never have courage you will never attempt anything great for God, and God is looking for people of courage who will make a difference for his kingdom. When you are listening to God and properly fearing him, you begin to lose your fear of many other things — including people. If you are a person who lives with the fear of not being accepted by the other people in our society, you will never be able to live for God. If you are afraid of not fitting in, then you will not fit into God’s kingdom. If you are one way around your friends and the people you work with, and another way around the people at church, then you will never be able to please God with your life. The closer you come to God the less important it is to have the world’s approval. The Bible says, “So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:6).
The final point about Joshua’s life is that: Joshua let God be in control. Here is the difficult part, isn’t it? I think the most difficult part of life is learning how to give up control. And this is also the biggest hindrance to people’s ability to grow spiritually. You cannot grow in the Christian life if you are not going to let God be in control of it all — all the people, all the situations and all the events of your life. Anyway, the thought that you are in control of anything is only an illusion. Because Joshua gave God complete control of his life he was not controlled by anything else. He chose what would control him. He said to the people of Israel: “But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.... But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15). He made his choice of who was going to be in control of his life and the life of his family, and he chose God. The life that God had chosen for Joshua was not necessarily the life he would have chosen for himself, but he surrendered his will to the will of God and let him be in control.
Perhaps this is best illustrated in Joshua crossing the Jordan River. Joshua is about to face the biggest challenge of his life. Just as there was a barrier through which the people had to pass in order to leave Egypt, so there was a barrier the people had to go through in order to enter the Promised Land — the Jordan River. It looked impossible, but Joshua was listening to God and allowing him to be in control as he had throughout his life.
Joshua’s life, like our lives, has a spiritual geography. He began his life as a slave in Egypt, and was able to leave that land only by the mighty hand of God. The next period of his life was spent in the wilderness. It was a time of spiritual training and learning what it meant to obey God. The wilderness was never meant to be his home, and the day came when God called him to enter into Canaan, the Promised Land. God was asking the people to enter into a great adventure that would also include times of intense warfare. Ultimately, it would be marked by victory, spiritual richness and rest, but it would not be once-for-all triumph that would end all their problems. It would be a series of conflicts and victories. But God was asking them to trust him in this adventure as they fought and struggled in their new homeland. He would demonstrate his power and provision as long as they followed him and gave him control.
This is our spiritual geography as well. Like Joshua, we were in Egypt, slaves to sin. But God delivered us through the power of his mighty acts of salvation. For a time we lived in the wilderness — we resisted God’s full control of our lives. Sinful habits and lifestyles had not yet been broken, and we were still looking back — longing for the things we enjoyed as slaves of sin. We were not enjoying the fulness of what God wanted to give us. But God was calling us to a new place — a place where we would serve him and enjoy the spiritual milk and honey of Canaan. Entering into this new place is not be the end of our problems. There are still battles that require courage and dependence on God, but as we surrender to the will of God we find the thrill of adventure and victory. The Bible says, “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:37). “Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57).
What barrier is God asking you to cross today so that you will be able to enter into a new place of spiritual victory with Him? It will require courage and strength, but God says, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9).
Rodney J. Buchanan
March 5, 2000
AGAINST ALL ODDS
Joshua 1:1-9
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous.
Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9).
1. Joshua learned _________________________________ .
2. Joshua listened _________________________________ .
3. Joshua let ______________________________________ .
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION (Mar 5, 2000)
1. Why is it easy to forget how wonderfully God has taken care of us in the past?
2. In what ways did Joshua stand out from many of the other people of Israel?
3. What were the three things which contributed to Joshua’s greatness?
4. Why do we need other people?
5. Read Hebrews 10:25. What happens when we try to live without Christian fellowship?
6. Read Joshua 1:9. What situation does this promise speak to in your life? How could you use this verse as a life promise?
7. Read Joshua 9:14-16. What mistake did Joshua make and how could he have avoided it?
8. Read Ecclesiastes 12:13. What does it mean to fear God?
9. Read 1 Samuel 15:24. What problems are caused by fearing the opinions of people?
10. What was the definition of courage given in the sermon? Do you agree? Why or why not?
11. Read James 4:7. What does it mean to be totally submitted to God? What would this look like in a person’s life?
12. Why is it hard to stop trying to control things in our lives? Pause to totally surrender control of every aspect of your life to God in prayer.
13. What has been your spiritual geography?
