Page 65 - The Prosperous Way _ (APRIL 2024 v3)

CHAPTER 7

THE COURAGE TO SUCCEED

P
icture in your mind, David, a slender youth of 16 or 17—too small
to fit into a soldier’s armour—standing fearlessly before a foul-
mouthed, nine-foot giant, whose threats had reduced the armies
of Israel to a cowering mass of terror (1 Samuel 17:11). Picture Joshua
and Caleb, overcome with excitement at the vast potential of the
Promised Land, delivering a report of a land flowing with milk and
honey, while the other ten Hebrew spies tell of a land of giants before
whom they are no more than grasshoppers (Numbers 3:33). David killed
Goliath, and Joshua took the land. The choice between fear and
courage was for them the difference between failure and success.

GIANTS IN THE LAND

In Joshua Chapter 1, as Israel stands at the door of the Promised Land,
and God prepares Joshua to lead Israel in, He repeatedly demands two
things of Joshua—strength and courage. Four times, He gives Joshua
this stern command: “Be strong and courageous … Be strong and very
courageous” (vs. 7 & 8). “Be strong and courageous” (vs. 9). “Only be
strong and courageous!” (vs. 18).

Why did God have to repeatedly charge Joshua to be strong and
courageous? Because faith must be accompanied by action if we are to
succeed. Faith is what we need in order to appropriate, or accept as
ours, the promises of God. But as is said in James 2:20, “Faith without
deeds is useless.” James continues by describing Abraham’s faith: “Was
not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he
offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions
were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he
did.” So, faith must be accompanied by action. And it takes courage to
act—to launch out into the unknown, the untried, the untested—to make
those dreams a reality.

When opportunity knocks at our door, why do we fail to grasp it, and
therefore we “miss” God? We have prayed that God will prosper us, yet
when the chance comes our way, we pull back. Why do we fear failure,
or second guess the direction in which we believe God is taking us when

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