When Waiting Takes Courage

This morning, I’ve started reading in Joshua.  My mind is swimming with the implications of the stories of the two primary “characters”, and I don’t know which is blowing my mind more—Joshua, or Rahab.

Joshua has just been handed the reins of leadership, following the death of Moses.  There’s never been anyone yet like Moses.  For all of Abraham’s great faith, and Jacob’s unwavering devotion and epic impact on God’s people—even the world at large—Moses’ story still eclipses them all.  Who else has ever led the jailbreak of more than 3 million people?  What other leader has ever spoken with the Almighty through a burning bush, facilitated a sea opening like a supernatural doorman, or spoken with God face-to-face? Moses’ resumè is both impressive and intimidating, to be sure.  Yet Joshua steps into this new leadership role with the stamp of approval from Jehovah himself.  And when does his ministry fully begin?  At the age of 80.  Eighty! 

For eighty years, God has been preparing him for this purpose.  We never once see him try to get ahead, to assert himself into leading without his total submission to his leadership.  He’s been faithful and loyal, and he has been completely trustworthy to those who lead him.  Joshua has never, as far as we can see, sought his own promotion, or manipulated or abused his authority.  Joshua has a right spirit.  It’s clear to me he never begrudged the season of waiting.  Because of that, when he steps into his new role, he has God’s total support.

Joshua 1:5-7 NLT

⁵ No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses.

I will not fail you or abandon you.

⁶ “Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. ⁷ Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do.

WOW. It’s really that simple. 

1.     Obey His instructions to the LETTER.

2.     Then you will be successful.

That’s it.  That is all He requires.  Don’t overcomplicate things—just get in the Book, pray for wisdom, and follow the directions. Then you will be successful in EVERYTHING you do!  Best. Recipe. EVER.

And did you notice the kind of backup Joshua has?  His decades of loyalty and faithfulness has just promoted him to God’s man.  He’s had plenty of opportunities to mess it all up, to lash out in frustration, to try to appropriate the loyalties of others for his own purposes…but he stays true to what is right, and God promotes him unreservedly.  Joshua’s resumè is pretty impressive, too, as much for what he COULD HAVE done and DIDN’T, as for what he DID.

Moses twice told Joshua to be “strong and courageous.” Then, as the mantle passed, and God spoke to Joshua, and repeated the directions three more times!  Joshua had been given his new motto, although it seems to play to the strengths he’s already demonstrated—loyalty and faithfulness are the hallmarks of strength and courage, in my book.  It takes someone with those initial character traits to “keep the main thing the main thing,” to not deviate from the right path when everything (or everyone) around you is telling you to take the easy way out.  Look at what the Lord told Joshua:

Joshua 1:8-9 NKJV

⁸ This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. ⁹ Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Allow me to hit some highlights here: He is telling Joshua that, if you continuously keep the Word of God as your main source of direction, and your thoughts are constantly pondering His Word, and you are proactive about applying it to your life, YOU make YOUR WAY PROSPEROUS.  By the application of and the reverent adherence to the principles of the Bible, you set yourself up for success.  Joshua’s already got a proven track record of this, because for over 40 years, he’s been a faithful minister, less concerned with the spotlight, and more concerned with the goals of the Kingdom.  He has never wavered from this as the central tenant of his life, though he’s certainly had opportunity to “go his own way.”  What a testimony Joshua is!  And God promises him that he will be with Joshua as he was with Moses.  Stamp of approval, indeed.  Joshua has just taken on the mantle of deliverer.

Then there’s Rahab.  I feel the Spirit of God sweep over me when I think about her!  The bible calls her a harlot, which today we’d label prosititute, by profession, although the study notes in my Bible tell me that it can also be translated as ‘innkeeper.’  Whatever the translation, the implication of a single woman welcoming strangers into her home to spend the night is not a savory one.  Our first impression of Rahab may be one of disdain.

However, it doesn’t take long to get a new glimpse into her psyche.  As she is saving the Hebrew spies that Joshua has dispatched to Jericho from being discovered by the king of Jericho, she tells them this:

Joshua 2:8-11 NKJV

⁸ Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof, ⁹ and said to the men: “I know that the Lord has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you. ¹⁰ For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. ¹¹ And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.

(Did anyone else notice that, while God is telling Israel to be strong and courageous, He’s busy scaring the pants off the inhabitants of the land?  And that Rahab is mentioning events that God has done for them 40 years in the past?  They’ve been shaking for 40 years?  Oh, Israel!  All of that fear and trepidation for NOTHING!)

The real thing that strikes me here about Rahab is her faith in WHO GOD IS.  We’d never think that a prostitute could have that kind of faith, because we believe she’d never succumb to such a profession if she DID. We immediately dismiss her, as soon as we know what she does—but it is clear here that it isn’t who she truly is.

Rahab is just living the life she’s been dealt.  Maybe it was a family business, since her whole extended family lived with her.  She’s an unmarried woman, living in a man’s world, trying to survive.  But the real story here is that as soon as she has the opportunity, the honesty of her heart demands that she recognizes the true and only living God, who is God in heaven above and earth beneath.  She is willing to lay down everything about her former life to chase after this God, and though it costs her all, she doesn’t hesitate.

That kind of faith gets God’s attention.  Big time.

Most of us know how the story goes.  But the most moving part for me is that Rahab’s faith allows her, a pagan, Canaanite woman of the night, to be adopted into the house of Israel.  She’s essentially the Old Testament version of Cornelius the centurion, from Acts 10.  She’s not supposed to get the promises—but she does!  She marries a Hebrew man, Salmon.  They have a son, Boaz.  Boaz later marries another heathen interloper, whose faith inserts her into God’s story, a little Moabitess gal named Ruth.  They have a son, named Obed, who later has a son named Jesse—who has a son named David.  Rahab’s faith makes her the great, great grandmother of the future king of Israel.  And of course, the most famous descendent of all would be the son of a carpenter, who laid His life down for all humankind.  Talk about a Cinderella story!  Loving the God of Israel not only transformed her life, but her entire lineage—and indeed, the world. 

Faith is courage.  Faith is strength.  Maybe, when you’re in the period of waiting for things to happen, it doesn’t feel that way.  Maybe it seems like the courageous thing to do would be to go chase things down and make them happen.  But real courage, real strength comes from waiting on the Lord, so that HIS TIMING is perfect.  He knows exactly when the right time is.  You won’t have to promote yourself.  God will make sure that, at the right time, the right doors open.  You won’t have to open them yourself.  You just have to do what is RIGHT, to keep YOUR SPIRIT right.  I see some people, so consumed with beginning their real ministry, that they fail to realize their real ministry is whatever God has them doing RIGHT NOW.  RIGHT NOW is just as important as TOMORROW.  RIGHT NOW prepares you for TOMORROW!  God once told Zechariah not to despise “small things.”  What may look small, and maybe even beneath you, is the place where God has you right now.  Don’t force open the new door!  When it is right—you won’t have to.  It’ll be standing open, and you’ll have God Himself inviting you to walk through, with His blessing.

I think I’ll wait for THAT, thank you very much.