When was the last time you knew exactly what God was asking you to do, and you didn’t do it? Not because you didn’t believe Him.
Because you were scared.
Over the last couple weeks, we shared a Prayer for Repentance and a Prayer for Forgiveness.
Repentance turned you around. Forgiveness let you set down what you were never meant to carry.
But there’s a moment that comes right after both. You’re facing the right direction, your hands are finally free, and now you actually have to walk.
That’s where most of us stall: not at knowing, but at the going.
Joshua knew that moment well.
“Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people…” — Joshua 1:2
Forty years of Moses, and now it was Joshua’s turn. A flooded river in front of him, a whole nation behind him, and walled cities on the other side.
So God said it three times in one chapter. Be strong and courageous.
“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
Read the first five words again. Have I not commanded you?
Courage isn’t a feeling God hopes you’ll have. It’s a command He expects you to obey.
That changes everything. If courage were a feeling, you could wait for it.
Because it’s a command, you can choose it today, scared or not.
And look at what God tied it to, just two verses earlier…
“Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses My servant commanded you.” — Joshua 1:7
In Scripture, courage is almost never about doing something impressive. It’s about doing what God already said.
The Hebrew word for strong, chazaq, carries the idea of taking hold and gripping firmly. Joshua wasn’t told to feel strong.
He was told to grab on.
That kind of courage shows up in more than one place:
The courage to obey — making the call, starting the change, saying yes to what God put on your heart
The courage to face fear —moving before the anxiety leaves instead of waiting for it to
The courage to stand for truth — saying what’s true when it would be easier to say nothing
All three start in the same place. And when we don’t have it, delayed obedience can sound like…
“I’ll do it when things settle down”
“I just need a clear sign first”
“What will people think?”
“What if I fail?”
“Somebody else would be better at this”
You already know which one you’ve been saying.
Fear is real. God never told Joshua there was nothing to be afraid of.
He told him why he didn’t have to be.
“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” — 2 Timothy 1:7
The reason is right there at the end of Joshua 1:9. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.
Not ahead of you, waiting to see if you make it. Not behind you, keeping score.
With you.
Your courage was never supposed to come from you. It comes from Who is walking next to you.
That’s how two fishermen stood in front of the same council that handed Jesus over to be crucified, and refused to be quiet.
“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.” — Acts 4:13
They had been with Jesus. That’s the whole secret.
Courage is what being with Jesus looks like from the outside.
And on the other side of the Jordan was the land God promised. Every step of obedience you’ve been putting off has something good waiting on the other side of it.
Fear keeps you on the riverbank. Courage walks you into the promise.
So whatever God has been asking you to step into, don’t wait until you feel brave.
Find a quiet spot and pray this out loud with us. A whisper counts.
“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” — Isaiah 41:10
Pray this with us: 🙏
Heavenly Father, You already know what You have asked me to do, and You know how long I have been standing at the edge of it. You know the fear I have dressed up as wisdom, and the delays I have called patience.
Thank You that You have never sent anyone anywhere alone. Thank You that You were with Joshua at the Jordan, and that You are with me today, wherever I go.
Lord, I come to You today ready to move. Not to wait until I feel brave. Not to ask for one more sign. To obey.
Help me be strong and courageous. Not because I am strong, but because You have commanded it, and You are with me.
Help me obey what You have already made clear. Help me make the call, start the change and say yes to what You put on my heart. Help me stop waiting for the fear to leave before I take the first step.
Holy Spirit, when fear speaks, help me answer it with Your Word. You did not give me a spirit of fear, but of power and love and self-control.
Your Word tells me not to be frightened and not to be dismayed, for the Lord my God is with me wherever I go. I cannot manufacture courage on my own. So Holy Spirit, fill me with Yours.
Bring Your courage to my marriage and my family. Give me boldness to lead with love, to have the hard conversations, and to keep the promises I made.
Bring Your courage to my work and my calling. Where I have shrunk back from what You made me for, help me step forward and trust You with the outcome.
Bring Your courage to my health. Give me the resolve to make the changes I have been putting off, and the strength to keep making them.
Bring Your courage to my mind. Where anxiety has been running the what-ifs, quiet it. Let Your presence be louder than my fear.
Bring Your courage to my mouth. When the truth is unpopular, help me say it with grace. When silence would be easier, help me speak.
Bring Your courage to my spirit. Let people look at my life and recognize that I have been with Jesus.
Lord, I repent of every time I knew what to do and let fear talk me out of it, and every time I called fear “common sense.”
I am not a slave to fear. I am not a slave to the what-ifs. I am not a slave to the opinions of people. I am not a slave to failure. I am not a slave to playing it safe.
Fear does not get to make my decisions anymore.
I belong to Jesus.
Teach me to walk in the courage You have already commanded.
Not a courage that pretends I am not afraid, but a courage that moves anyway because You are with me. Courage to obey. Courage to face my fear. Courage to stand for what is true.
Today, I trade my fear for Your presence, and the riverbank for Your promise.
I receive Your strength. I receive Your boldness. I receive Your peace in the middle of what scares me. I receive the courage for the first step and the next one. I receive Your presence wherever I go. I receive the abundant life You came to give me.
Amen.
When the what-ifs won’t stop spinning, this is where to start…
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Follow Jesus, not trends, in every area.
As always, our hope and prayer is that you experience the abundant life.
~ Dr. Z & Mama Z
P.S. Name the one step you have been afraid to take. Take it before the week is over, and tell someone you trust that you did.