Be of Good Courage

Background Scripture: Joshua 1; Psalm 31
Lesson Scripture: Joshua 1:1-9; 1 Corinthians 16:13; Psalm 31:24

Introduction

Another year of Sunday school is now set in order and ready to begin. With this comes the opportunity to be involved. Teachers will be needed, and superintendents will oversee the Sunday school program in their respective congregations, organize classes, and, every Sunday, introduce the lesson to us. Each of us as participants will need to apply ourselves to make the class a success. As we begin, let us individually decide that this coming year of Sunday school will be one of study and application.

These lessons are published and sent out with an earnest hope and prayer that God can be in the midst of our Sunday school program. Let us pray collectively that He can continue to direct this effort unto the edifying of the church.

Sunday school is one of the ways God provisions his people. God provides the needed inspiration and direction through the Holy Spirit, which motivates and touches the lesson writer. He, in turn, converts this God-given inspiration into words. The published words formatted into a lesson furnish and bless everyone in the larger body of believers with a seed for meditation, discussion, and instruction. What began with God’s touch now returns to Him in devotion, obedience, and faith, multiplied and fruitful. How wonderful is the Word of God when it is used to advantage!

Starting with this new Sunday school year, let us be more aware of the Scripture upon which these lessons are built. It is the Bible that we are studying, not the title of the lesson or the lesson itself. The different parts of each lesson are meant to complement, enhance, and amplify the particular portion of verses we study in a given lesson.

This quarter we will be studying lessons taken out of the books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, and 1 Chronicles. History has a unique way of teaching us lessons. “If you want to project the future, take a look into the past,” it is said. We see a reflection of human nature and the issues that have surrounded the human family from the very beginning by understanding and studying history.

Be of Good Courage

Lesson 1

September 3, 2023

Background Scripture: Joshua 1; Psalm 31

Lesson Scripture: Joshua 1:1-9; 1 Corinthians 16:13; Psalm 31:24

Introduction

Courage is a necessary ingredient for accomplishing both great and small tasks. It takes courage to face a new day and, when it ends, to give it proper closure and lay it to rest. Courage is a gift from God, but it is also a choice.

Being courageous means choosing to not allow discouragement to affect us. Life is challenging regardless of what we encounter. To control our mind and face life in a positive way will include walking with our hand in God’s hand. He gives life its purpose, so a Christian should not live in a discouraged state of mind.

Key Verse

Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life (Rev. 2:10).

Lesson Scripture

Studying the Lesson

Moses had led the children of Israel for many years. By the power of God, Moses had brought the Israelites to the banks of the Jordan River for the second time. That phase of leadership was now over.

Joshua was not asked to fill Moses’s place—his was a completely different role. This was a new and different work than Moses had, and, in some ways, it was a much greater responsibility than that of Moses.

The promise given to Abraham was nearing fulfillment. The time had come to cross over the river into Canaan and possess the land.

Joshua was chosen as leader because of his faithfulness and testimony the first time the Israelites were at the banks of the Jordan River. God had seen fit that he and Caleb would be the only two of the former generations to cross into Canaan.

God promised Joshua He would be with him and help him as He had been with Moses. Since Joshua was Moses’s primary assistant, he had much close contact with Moses. He had firsthand experience of how God was with Moses. To have God speak the promise of his presence likely gave Joshua courage for the work ahead.

Conquering the land of Canaan was a monumental task. Teaching men how to battle experienced warriors, dividing the land after the conquest, and searching for the transgressor and dealing with hidden sin after the defeat at Ai commanded Joshua’s attention. Giving land to the two and a half tribes who stayed on the other side of the Jordan, erecting a stone monument for posterity, and continuing to teach God’s laws were also some of Joshua’s duties and accomplishments. His final declaration, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Josh. 24:15), reflected how Joshua faithfully executed his responsibilities.

Joshua was instructed by God to constantly refer to his law. Likely Joshua already knew it well; he had been with Moses during the disposition of the law and when it was reiterated to the people. Nevertheless, God commanded Joshua to give himself to further study of the law, and surely this is how Joshua found the courage and understanding to fulfill all the tasks before him. Numerous promises were given to Joshua regarding his welfare and success, but nearly all of them are found in conjunction with the command to “be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed” (Josh. 1:9).

Practical Truths for Today

Many aspects of doing what is right warrant courage. It takes courage to care for others, to be open to our brethren, and to learn the lessons of life in the classroom of daily living.

It takes courage to reach out to others, to open our homes, and to meet the visitor at church. It takes more courage than we seem to have at times just to live daily life.

It requires courage to become involved in the church’s work of outreach. Willingly filling the place we are asked to fill, then placing the next several years of our lives into the hands of the church mission boards requires being surrendered to God. Courage will be needed to learn a different language, culture, and country. Will we have the courage to leave home at home and go serve in the place to which we have been called?

Sometimes it takes courage to say no. None of us can do everything, nor are we asked to. Do we have the courage to limit our busyness and involvements? Even if our heartfelt desire is to live for the Lord, it says nothing if we are not strong enough to say no.

Having courage might mean trying new things we feel are not our talent or strong point. Do we have the courage to leave our comfort zone when our brethren encourage us to stretch our limits?

It takes courage to graciously admit defeat and surrender our thoughts and desires when things do not work as we thought they should have. It also requires courage to keep moving forward and try again. Do we let past mistakes get us down? Stepping beyond our past and gaining a new and better perspective will take courage and, in many cases, perseverance.

Satan’s goal is to cause discouragement. He desires to make us feel like a failure both when we have and when we have not been faithful. Satan, being the father of lies, will use anything he can to discourage us. It will take courage to resist him.

None of us have faced a challenge quite like Joshua did. He was tasked with leading a large group of people across the Jordan River to conquer existing nations, eventually establishing God’s people in Canaan. There is much to learn from Joshua and the many other courageous individuals of the Bible. In the face of what seemed like insurmountable odds, they moved forward. We read the accounts of more of heroes of faith in Hebrews 11.

Is there a way to find courage when we feel like we do not have any and the way ahead looks discouraging and dark? We will not always readily possess the needed courage to face the many situations that cause us difficulty. Physical health, financial setbacks, our children’s welfare, and discouraged loved ones, among many other things, are real-life issues.

Queen Esther, who told Mordecai, “If I perish, I perish” (Est. 4:16), had the courage to accept the situation she found herself in. She told Mordecai to ask all the Jews in Shushan to fast and then committed herself to the will of God with these courageous words that ring through the ages. Although prayer is not mentioned, we can readily infer that it was a central part of their commitment. Fervent and sincere prayer is a good way to find courage.

Simply trusting Jesus is another way to gain courage. Can we give Him the confidence that He is in control? Trusting Him means committing the past, present, and future to God. Giving ourselves to prayer and the study of the Word of God will affect our courage in a positive way. We can also receive courage from our brethren and their counsel when we feel we do not have what we need. Mordecai’s reasoning with Queen Esther, together with his belief that she was brought to her position by God for that certain time, surely was a strong encouragement to her. Knowing the rituals and customs of the king’s palace, Esther felt like she faced insurmountable odds, and the possibility of death must have been very real.

To let God have his way, to be willing to rest and wait, will mean finding the grace to trust all into the hands of an all-knowing God. We may be weak, but we dare not use that weakness as an excuse to do nothing. Leaving all to God does not mean doing nothing; it is the letting go that takes courage.

When we let go, we are tapping into the greatest source of courage available. Our forefathers were faithful in following God. From them we learn that giving all to God and trusting Him when we are weak is the way to rest and happiness. When we surrender to God, nothing of the immediate present may change—it is a heart change that makes the difference. That is where the change from being discouraged to being courageous often takes place.

May we find the grace to have courage from within, from our brethren, and more than all, from God. God’s cause of salvation will be triumphant in the end. God has never failed anyone!

Illustration

While on a visit to a congregation in another country, a brother and his wife were privileged to sit and visit with an older sister. They had lived among the brethren in this congregation in the past. As long as they had known her, she had been a thankful, courageous sister. Due to lack of funds and old age, this sister was not able to walk well for some years, yet she was a dedicated tract distributor as her health permitted.

Her testimony in this visit was, “My life is God’s. He knows my needs. I will live for Him as long as I live. He sustains me. Living, I am his, and dying I will be his. Whether He comes for me soon or later is not important to me. What is important is that I am his first and above all.” When they left the area to return home, her dismissal was, “May God bless you. If we do not see each other again in this life, may we live to meet in heaven.”

Her ringing testimony of courage despite her challenges in life was marvelous. She has been a source of courage to others many times.

Questions

1. Are we able to create courage in ourselves without others’ help?
2. How do I find courage when I feel I need it?
3. Is courage a mindset? An attitude? An attribute?
4. Do I know when I need to ask for help to have more courage?
5. How can I encourage someone else?

Source: COGICM Daily Bible Readings (Daily Bible Readings, PO Box 124, Glenn, CA 95943).