“The easily embarrassed don’t learn.” Jewish Proverb

Moses is about to die and Joshua was his God picked successor to give the Jewish people a homeland.

Joshua, though, must have been a bit timid about his new role. Repeatedly, we read that he was told to “be strong and courageous.” He was told this by Moses (Deut. 31:6), 3 times by God Himself (Joshua 1:6-9); and then from the Israeli leadership (Joshua 1:18).

God also told Joshua that He would go before him, be with him and never leave him. What part of never doesn’t mean never? No matter what came about – victories and/or defeats – God was going to walk with and be there for him.

All Joshua had to do was to hold onto the Lord (be strong) and keep going no matter what happened (courageous).

After a string of victories, though, Joshua fails and wanted to quit (Joshua 7:1-9). Did the Lord leave him? No. In fact, after allowing Joshua a little time to wallow in self-pity, the Lord tells him to stand up and keep moving.

Learn from Joshua. He was embarrassed and slipped back into being discouraged when he failed (we’ll talk about this next week). Yet, he stood up and finished the job the Lord gave him.

The Father has a purpose for your life, which in the midst of, you will learn more and more about who He is and what He can do. Will you make mistakes? Probably.

Know this, however. Your God loves you and is there to give you a hand up. So keep learning. He’s well worth standing up for and knowing!