Be Strong and Courageous

(Matthew 8:23-26 ESV)

Be strong and courageous.

Easier said than done, right?

Yet this encouragement is repeated over and over throughout the Old Testament.

At least twenty-six times.

I stopped counting.

Be strong and courageous.

Moses to the Israelites.

The Lord to Joshua.

An angel to Daniel.

Prophets to kings.

David to his son.

David to his soul.

I note the circumstances into which each of the at-least-twenty-six be-strong-and-courageous encouragements is spoken.

They practically sort themselves into categories.

Change. Challenge. Discouragement. Fear. Worry. Prayers That Feel Unanswered.

Does a category resonate with you?

Maybe you have your own.

For me, two go together.

Change and worry.

Life today doesn’t look anything like I thought it would.

And I worry about what my future will look like.

Even though I’m not completely sure what the present even looks like.

Be strong and courageous.

Ball your fists, grit your teeth, and put on your game face.

Actually, not so much.

Strong, or chazaq (khaw-zak’), is a verb meaning to fasten upon.

Nearly every one of the at-least-twenty-six be-strong-and-courageous encouragements is followed by a promise.

A promise to which we can fasten ourselves.

Like Velcro.

Trshch-trch-ch-ch

Okay, maybe not like Velcro, but you get the picture.

I flip to Joshua’s encouragement from the Lord.

And His promise.

“Be strong and courageous . . . for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

(Joshua 1:9)

With.

A preposition showing location and relationship.

A picture of where God is, how He feels about us, and where our strength comes from.

And a reminder to keep up our end of the relationship.

By staying in conversation.

Be strong and courageous pops up all over the Old Testament.

Yet, in the New Testament, there’s no record of Jesus uttering these words.

Which bothers me, until I realize He doesn’t need to.

And so begins the familiar story . . .

And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. 

And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, 

so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; 

but he was asleep.

Swamped, covered, inundated by the waves.

While Jesus sleeps.

An incredible scene.

Even more incredible is that, so far, no one wakes Jesus.

Perhaps the disciples are too panicked to think straight, or too focused on bailing to remember He’s there.

Or maybe they just assume He’s bailing too.

Until someone notices He’s not.

Not even close.

And they went and woke him, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!”

The storm doesn’t wake Jesus.

Not even a little bit.

His disciples do.

And he said to them, “Why are you afraid?” 

Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.

No matter how hard the wind blows or how hard the waves crash, Jesus is there.

With them.

All they have to do is hold up their end of the relationship.

By starting a conversation.

There’s no record of Jesus saying, “Be strong and courageous,” to those storm-drenched disciples.

But His actions speak.

Into real life.

To them.

And to us.

Be strong and courageous. 

I am here. 

With you.

When change, challenge, discouragement, fear, worry, prayers that feel unanswered, or anything else threatens to swamp you . . .

Start a conversation.

See you in a couple weeks.

Love,