• Read Joshua 1

MORNING— Called to Step Forward

• Focal Passage: Joshua 1:2

“Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross this Jordan…”

Joshua receives his calling at a difficult moment. Moses is gone. The leader who spoke face to face with God is no longer there. And into that silence, God speaks clearly: “Now therefore arise.”

God does not wait for Joshua to feel ready. He calls him forward while the weight of responsibility still feels heavy.

History gives us rare, true examples of this kind of courage.

In July of 1941, twenty-two-year-old Sergeant James Allen Ward, a New Zealand airman serving with the Royal Air Force, was flying as a co-pilot on a nighttime bombing mission over enemy territory. During the flight, a German fighter attacked their Wellington bomber. Although the enemy aircraft was shot down, a bullet severed a fuel line on Ward’s plane. Fuel ignited, and flames spread across the starboard wing.

Inside the cockpit, the pilot told Ward the unthinkable: “You’ve got to put that fire out.”
If the flames continued, the crew would be forced to bail out over Nazi-occupied Europe.

Ward first tried using a fire extinguisher through a hole in the fuselage, but it failed. The pilot then gave the order to abandon the aircraft. Ward refused.

Instead, he volunteered to climb out of the plane while it was still in flight. Tying a rope around his waist, Ward punched holes in the aircraft’s metal skin with his hands and boots to create handholds. He crawled onto the burning wing, carrying a canvas tarp. Reaching the engine housing, he forced the tarp into the burning opening, smothering the flames while burning fuel sprayed around him in the darkness.

Against all odds, the fire went out.
The aircraft returned safely to base.

A month later, Prime Minister Winston Churchill awarded Ward the Victoria Cross, the highest honor for valor in the British Commonwealth. Yet when Ward stood in Churchill’s office, this man who had crawled onto a burning wing could barely speak. His knees shook. His hands trembled. Words would not come.

Churchill noticed and said kindly, “You must feel very humble and awkward in my presence.”
Ward managed to reply, “Yes, sir.”
To which Churchill answered, “Then you can imagine how humble I feel in yours.”

Joshua, like Ward, was not fearless. He was faithful. God’s call is often answered not by calm confidence, but by trembling obedience.

• Reflection:  Where might God be asking you to act—not because you feel brave, but because obedience is required?

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EVENING— Courage That Abides

• Focal Passage: Joshua 1:9

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go”

God’s command to Joshua is striking not only for its urgency, but for its repetition. Three times in this opening chapter, Joshua is told to be strong and courageous. Scripture rarely repeats itself without reason. God is not scolding Joshua; He is steadying him.

Courage, in the biblical sense, is not the absence of fear. It is the decision to obey God in spite of fear. Joshua is not rebuked for trembling; he is told not to live there. The Lord does not deny the danger ahead—He simply refuses to let fear have the final word.

Notice how God frames His command. He does not say, “Be strong, because you are capable.” He says, “Be strong… for the LORD your God is with you.” The foundation of courage is not self-confidence but divine presence.

This is why Joshua is directed back to God’s Word. Meditation on Scripture anchors the mind when circumstances are unstable. God’s promises become ballast for the soul, keeping faith from capsizing under pressure. Strength grows not from bold personalities, but from steady attention to what God has said.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, writing from a Nazi prison cell, captured this truth with clarity and depth:

“We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God. God will be constantly crossing our paths and canceling our plans by sending us people with claims and petitions.”

Joshua’s life would be full of such interruptions—battles he did not schedule, decisions he did not anticipate, responsibilities he did not request. Yet God promises, not ease, but presence.

At night, when courage feels thinner and questions grow louder, Joshua 1:9 reminds us that obedience does not depend on certainty. It depends on trust. God does not call His servants to see the whole road—only to take the next faithful step, confident that He walks with them.

• Reflection:  Where are you tempted to delay obedience until fear subsides—and how might trusting God’s nearness change your next step?
• Closing Prayer:  Lord God, You call Your servants forward while the future is still uncertain and our hearts are still unsteady.  Give us courage that does not depend on fearlessness, but on faithfulness.  Teach us to rise when You command, to walk in Your Word, and to rest in Your nearness. Amen.