Some people are really good in a crisis situation. They spring to action and figure out how to most effectively put out that fire or solve that problem or clean up that mess. As an adult, I’m learning how to do this. But growing up, we had a running joke in our family that my response to unexpected situations was to parrot my panic in three quick bursts.
There was that one time when my mom, sisters, and I were in the kitchen, and the toaster caught on fire. I was the closest one to the toaster, so it could logically follow that I would be the one to put the fire out. But my way of helping was to merely repeat the frantic warning of “Fire! Fire! Fire!” while waiting for someone else to actually come and do something about the problem.
And then there was the time my sister had pulled into a parking space, and she had forgotten to put the car in park. Instead of putting the car in park myself, the most I was able to do was to signal to my sister in my signature three-peat: “We’re rolling! We’re rolling! We’re rolling!”
Or that one time in college, when I was walking with my beloved roommate down the quad and her backpack busted wide open, spilling her books all over the sidewalk. In the rain. And my oh-so-helpful response of “Oh! Oh! Oh!” as others scrambled to help her gather her books before they were ruined in the puddles.
It’s not that I didn’t want to be helpful in these situations. It’s not that my desire was lacking. It’s just that I was unable to put that desire into action quickly enough to be of assistance. As a mom, you do learn how to do this – lots of opportunities for trial and error. But it doesn’t come naturally to some of us.
I don’t know why I repeated things in threes during these times of small crises either, but I will say that sometimes, things go well in threes. They are easier to remember. They stand out. Like in the first chapter of Joshua, where God is commissioning Joshua for this great mission He has for him.
Many of us who have grown up in church or have read the Bible or listened to pastors preach on these verses know that God encourages Joshua to be strong and courageous here. But did you know that in the first nine verses of the first chapter of Joshua, God actually tells Joshua to be strong and courageous three times?
We have the first instance in verse 6: Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. So God is customizing this message to Joshua. God knows what He will accomplish through Joshua, and He knows what Joshua will need along the way.
So, with all of this in mind, God tells Joshua to be strong and courageous this first time here because Joshua will bring the Israelites into the Promised Land. They will have to take over that land, which will be scary and dangerous, but God is telling them that He will give them the victory.
The second instance is in verse 7: Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.
There is a slight variation here, which fascinates me. Did you catch it? Here God tells Joshua to be strong and very courageous. Now, if we’ve just talked about the first time God tells Joshua to be strong and courageous, and that was because Joshua needs to be a warrior. He needs to conquer the people currently living in the land that God has given to His people.
So if God is now telling Joshua to be strong and very courageous, the reason must be that what God is about to call Joshua to do now is possibly even harder and more intimidating than fighting and conquering. What could be harder than that?
We see in verse 7 that what God is also calling Joshua to do is to follow God’s law. He elaborates in verse 8: This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful 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.
Much has been said about conquering ourselves and our own negative thought patterns and behaviors, and how sometimes our greatest challenges and battles are waged within our own minds. One of the most well-known passages of Scripture on this topic is from Paul in the book of Romans:
For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.
For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.
Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin (7:19-25).
God is telling Joshua to be strong and very courageous here because God knows what a battle we have in our minds and hearts when it comes to following God’s laws and treasuring what God treasures and eschewing what God eschews. (Don’t you just love this word eschew? Such a quirky little word, but I adore it, so I like to use it whenever possible. It means to deliberately avoid using something or to deliberately abstain from something.)
God knows that every act of obedience to His Word takes immense courage. Every time we choose to do what God says is right, that takes courage. Submitting to God’s truth, living it out day and night after day and night after day and night is a life of courage. To do this, to live this way, is a courageous life. A very courageous life.
The third instance in which God tells Joshua to be strong and courageous occurs in verse 9: 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.
We could think of this three-peat as a “Double Stuf” Oreo cookie. We have the first be strong and courageous, that top cookie, then the extra fluffy double portion of filling of be strong and very courageous, and then another be strong and courageous as that bottom cookie portion of the Oreo.
I love this third instance because God asks him, as we would our children or students, “Do you get this?” or “Did you hear what I said?” He’s repeated it twice already, and He wants to ensure Joshua gets this. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous.
He then takes it a step further and tells Joshua not to be frightened and not to be dismayed. For me, I see or hear about something scary, feel fear, give in to being frightened as I turn over the what ifs in my mind endlessly, which eventually gives way to dismay because how am I going to overcome what has now turned into a very overwhelming situation?
That is my process. Yours may be a bit different, but God knows us. He knows that’s generally how we function, with fright turning to dismay. And He’s telling Joshua here not to be frightened or dismayed, but He also tells him why: because God will be with him wherever he goes.
So there we have it: our Oreo. We, too, can be strong and courageous as we fulfill the tasks God gives us to do. We, too, can be strong and very courageous as we discipline ourselves to read God’s Word and to live it out. And neither do we have to give in to fright and dismay because God is with us.
Hebrews 13:5 tells us: Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
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