Joshua 1:1-2 — It’s your Turn
“the Lord spake unto Joshua… saying” (vs. 1) “Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise” (vs. 2).
Moses, God’s servant was the leader of Israel. Israel now is a mega power after leaving Egypt and 40 years in the desert. Whether hundreds of thousands of people or over 1 or 2 million people, it is still a lot of people for one man to be leader over (especially with no cell phones, emails, FB status’, Twitter and any form of social media to let everyone know what is going on), but God used Moses to lead this massive group. Now Moses dies before they cross into the promise land and God tells Joshua it is time to step up. How in the world can Joshua fill Moses’ shoes? How can Joshua know what to do and where to even start? But this book, Joshua (named after the new leader), relates how Joshua was ready and prepared. Here are a few of the reasons why I believe Joshua was ready when it was his turn to lead:
- He had been Moses’ servant for a long time (Num 28:11 — “And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men”)
- He had his own personal relationship with God (Ex. 33:11 — “his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle”)
- He had been serving in positions of leadership (one of 12 spies, meaning he was representative of his tribe as well as captain of army. Ex. 17:9 — “And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek”)
Sadly, many people are not ready for the next step in life or ministry that God may have for them because they have not prepared as Joshua. Who are you serving right now? Do you have a personal relationship and walk with the Lord or are you depending on someone else’s relationship with God to keep you going? What ministry and area of leadership are you working in right now? If we are not preparing right now, what makes us think that we will be ready tomorrow when God says, “it’s your turn, time to step up to the plate”. No sports player enters into a game without practice before. No musician plays in a concert without lots of practice time. No doctor goes into surgery without many hours backing up his profession. So why do we think that we can just “shoot from the hip” in God’s service, the most important work in the world. May we be faithful in preparing right now… and we will do fine performing when it is time.