I had six kids start school this week and five of them arrived on their first day to a place they’d never been before. Each sat on the bus with a mix of excitement and apprehension. So many expectations of what is known and unknown has to drive a kid crazy on a half-hour bus ride.

As I watched my kids leave the house I was pretty sure they’d be OK. I wasn’t sure if they felt the same. How bad does a father want his kids to be confident when they walk into an unfamiliar place? Pretty bad. Not just because he doesn’t want them to be afraid, but because he knows they don’t NEED to be afraid.

God desires the same when He calls his children to enter an unfamiliar land. In Joshua 1, He tells them to “be strong and courageous.” They are about to enter a place they’ve never before been and God uses words to fuel their passage and empower their entry. He doesn’t want them to be afraid because He knows they don’t need to be afraid.

These words are not just a good idea, nor are they God’s “good luck” to his people. These words are his “good news” to them. It’s good news because it’s a command linked to a promise. The command to be strong and courageous is a chain linked to his promise that he will never forsake them and that he will be faithful to follow through on his word.

He says to Joshua: “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall use this people (God’s children) to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.”  — Joshua 1:5-6

This command to be strong and courageous is not a pep talk. It’s a presence guarantee. He will be with us on the journey and go before us as we enter the unfamiliar. There is no place, no time, for weakness or fear.

What is the unfamiliar you face this week? What makes you weak and fearful? What is giving you apprehension and concern?

Be strong and courageous. Your Father is near.

Our heavenly Father wants badly for us to be confident when we walk into the unfamiliar because it comes with awareness of his presence.

I could not promise my kids that I would be with them on their first day of school. (They are probably thankful that I couldn’t.) But God does promise his presence to us and, thankfully, we have a good Father who keeps his word.

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. – Joshua 1:9