Joshua 1:9

New International Version (NIV)

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

For meditation

The story is told of a going-out-of-business sale by Satan. All his prized weapons were put on display with their price tags (Gal. 5:19-21). Tucked in a corner was a very old and worn tool with the highest price tag. A curious observer asked the devil what that tool was and why it was so highly priced.

“That is discouragement.”

“Why do you have it so highly priced?”

“Because it is more useful to me than any of the others” Satan said. “I can pry open and get inside a person’s conscience with that tool when I could not get near them with any of the others; and when inside, I can use the person in whatever way I want. It’s so worn because I use it with nearly everybody, as very few people know that it belongs to me.”

How true it is!

Through my sanctified imagination, I can see Satan by Joshua’s side, trying to discourage him when Joshua was left to lead the Israelites after Moses’ death.

“That’s, it, Joshua. You and the people are done in this wilderness. Moses is gone and you cannot lead this people into the Promised Land. How can you perform all the miracles he did? Do you think the people will respect and submit to your authority as they did to Moses? Remember how rebellious they were under Moses; how much more you?”

Glory to God! He knows the battlefield more than we do. He knows the enemy and his weapon of discouragement very well. God did not leave Joshua to wilt away like a leaf under the scotching sun of the devil. For, that is what discouragement seeks to do in us. It robs us of our confidence and dulls our faith in God. That’s why, three times in chapter one of the Book of Joshua, God told Joshua to be strong and courageous (Joshua 6, 7, 9). “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” (9).

With fear and discouragement, Satan plies his trade and seeks to defeat God’s people. David is one of the few who knew this satanic weapon and did not fall to it before Goliath (1 Sam. 17:32), and at Ziklag when his men wanted to stone him (30:6). He was not discouraged by what he saw. Rather, he took courage in the Lord.

Satan tried this tool on Jesus through Peter; but the Lord identified and rebuked him (Matt. 16: 23). He did it again in the Garden of Gethsemane and failed (Lk. 22:39-44). After Calvary, Satan used that same ugly weapon of discouragement on the disciples until the resurrection; and he may be using it on you now, but you do not realize it.

I pray the Lord opens your eyes to recognize Satan in your discouragement, so that you may rebuke him with the authority Jesus has given to you (Lk. 10:19).

So: May you recognize that your strength is in Jesus and fix your eyes on Him, who is the “Author and Perfecter of our faith” (Heb. 12:2); and may you be “strong and courageous” in Him for the glory of the Father. Amen!

Discouragement is of the devil. Recognize and deal with it in Christ.

Shalom