God Can Use Wimps

Are you a wimp? I don’t know about you, but I sure have my moments—-and I’m wholeheartedly grateful that God still uses wimps.

Case in point: Joshua, one of the most acclaimed generals and leaders of all time.

Ordinarily, when you think of Joshua, a wimp is probably not what comes to mind. The story of Joshua might make you think of a host of descriptive terms, such as courageous, wise, faithful, brave, and a mighty leader of men. But he sure wasn’t born that way. Joshua, just like the rest of us, started out as a wimp. And not just a little old wimp—-he was such a big wimp, that not only did God have to tell him to have courage, but the people of Israel had to help remind him too.

Lately, I’ve been meditating on the book of Joshua—and what it means to have the heart of a leader. One of the first truths that God has shown me is that the heart of a leader is courageous.

Ironically, though, Joshua didn’t start off as being courageous. In fact, quite the contrary.

In the opening words of the book, barely past the introduction, God has to help remind Joshua to be strong and not give up. Moses was barely cold in the grave before Joshua got a bad case of knocking knees and wimpitis. The task before him was unbelievably overwhelming and surely he must have wondered how he was going to finish the mission of leading Israel into the Promised Land.

Fortunately, God was there to comfort his trembling servant:

“There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them.

Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.” Joshua 1:5-7

Then, just mere verses after God settled Joshua down, the people provided a little positive reinforcement. You see, they were willing to submit to Joshua’s leadership, but they had a caveat of their own. . . he had to get over being a wimp.

“And they answered Joshua, saying, All that thou commandest us we will do, and whithersoever thou sendest us, we will go. According as we hearkened unto Moses in all things, so will we hearken unto thee: only the LORD thy God be with thee, as he was with Moses.

Whosoever he be that doth rebel against thy commandment, and will not hearken unto thy words in all that thou commandest him, he shall be put to death: only be strong and of a good courage.” Joshua 1:16-18 (emphasis mine)

So what changed Joshua? How did he go from being a wimp to being a warrior? What transformed him from a helpless follower into a hero of faith?

It’s simple — and the same exact thing that changes us. He met with God. And once he saw Him, his life was never the same.

In chapter 5, the story is recounted about how Joshua encountered the Captain of the Host of the Lord….Christ appearing in bodily form in the Old Testament. It was here in the preceding days before Jericho, Joshua’s first big test, that his life was changed. As he worshiped on holy ground, he realized that God was the source of his strength.

Did this experience instantly make Joshua perfect? Absolutely not. The rest of the book tells us his exploits and his failures, his high moments and his low spots. One of the greatest generals of all time was duped by a bunch of bums with moldy bread. But that’s not what he’s remembered for. He’s remembered for his courage and for his place among the Heroes of Faith in Hebrews 11.

By the end of his life, Joshua had learned the lesson of having a courageous heart. When we first met this motley hero, God had to tell him to be strong and even the people he was responsible to lead had to tell him to be courageous. But by the time Joshua’s story was complete, he was finally able to tell someone else to be courageous, because he had learned it himself.

In Joshua’s farewell speech to the people, it was his turn to do the reminding: “And the LORD your God, he shall expel them from before you, and drive them from out of your sight; and ye shall possess their land, as the LORD your God hath promised unto you. Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left;” Joshua 23:5-6

After encountering firsthand the source of his strength, the wimp became a warrior. Now how about you?