Vigorous!

Joshua 14:10-11 says, “”Now then, just as the LORD promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the desert. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then.

Observation: Joshua was a great leader and general. He has fought some serious battles and taken the land God was giving to his people. God had placed a calling on Joshua. God gave Joshua the strength to finish what he had started 45 years earlier. In this passage Joshua says that God placed a calling on his life, and as long as God had a job for him to do, God would strengthen him. He says we was vigorous!

Application: There are days when I feel that I do not have the strength necessary to “battle” for the Lord. My battles are different from Joshua’s. Each day I wake up I know that God has placed a calling on my life. As as long as God is calling me into battle I must trust that he will give me the vigor and strength to “fight.” When my faith is weak, or I am frustrated, or tired, I must remember the words of Joshua! I was 19 when God called me into ministry. 14 years later he is giving me what I need to carry out that calling. As long as he chooses I will be obedient to his calling.

Prayer: Forgive me when I lose faith. You are sovereign and you have given me the calling to battle. You will give me vigor and strength. Thank you God for giving me what I need to do what you have asked.