“Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.
Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” - Joshua 1:6-9 ESV

In this series, we will be looking at three characteristics of STRONG & COURAGEOUS women. Strong and courageous women are those who know God’s power in their lives and rest in His strength. They are women who are not deterred by danger or pain but stand brave because they are in a beautiful relationship with The Lion of Judah.

If you are not feeling strong or courageous today, by the end of this series, you will see that in Christ, you have everything you need to stand strong and courageous!

If you haven’t already, read PART ONE HERE.

In Part One of this series, we learned that like Joshua, the first characteristic of being strong and courageous is that we know God’s promise on our life is a sure victory. In Joshua 1:5-6 we saw that just as the Lord was with Moses and Joshua, so will He be with you. He is holding your hand and giving you His strength to see those promises through to completion.

PART TWO: Strong and Courageous Women Hold Onto God’s Word.

For this study, we are going to dig into Joshua 1:5-9. Joshua is a man who was strong and courageous and much can be learned from his life as we learn to live with bravery and strength in the face of difficult circumstances.

God gave Joshua . . . HIS WORD.

“Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” Joshua 1:7-8 ESV

The second time we see "be strong and courageous" is when God gives Joshua the Word. "Joshua, I am giving you My Word - Genesis through Deuteronomy. Do everything in it. Don’t look at the trouble on your right. Don’t look at the -ites on your left. Don’t look at the complaining people and the greatness of the task ahead of you. Look to my Word!"

Joshua had the Word and because he had God's Word, he could stand strong and courageous. God’s Word was His safe guide.

God gave you . . . HIS WORD.

Out of the three characteristics we are going to discuss in this series, this second one is the most important. How do I know?

Look at verse 7 above. I underlined three words that don’t appear in verse 6 or 9. All three verses say to “be strong and courageous”, but verse 7 emphasizes the phrase with three small words; only, be, very. The author of Joshua is letting us know that this one is emphasized. This one you need to pay attention to.

Meditate on it.

His Word is our safe guide and we are to “meditate” on the Word day and night. The word meditate in Hebrew means to growl, groan, speak, utter, and talk. We must speak the Word out loud. Read it out loud. Why? So that the mind doesn’t wander.

The Word is not to depart from our mouths. We are to do everything written in it. THEN, we shall be prosperous and have good success. Does that mean money and riches? No. We shall be prosperous in what we spoke about in Part One . . . In seeing the promises of God come to fruition in our lives.

Don’t Turn To the Right or Left.

I think one reason we fail to be strong and courageous with what life throws at us is that we are constantly looking “to the right and to the left.” We are looking at the problems. We are looking at the doubt. We are looking at the situation, the people, the arguments, the fear, the worry, the doctor’s report, the angry boss, the unbelieving spouse, the ungrateful kids, and we lose focus on what is going to make us strong and courageous to go through life’s battles.

Don’t turn from the Word, My Friend.

The Word will make us prosperous and successful. The Word will help us through the situation. The Word will guide us through the marriage and the parenting issues. The Word will give us peace when the doctor’s report says otherwise. The Word will get us through the battles of life.

The Word.

Don’t turn from it.

The Word will bring us through to the promise.

The first characteristic of strong and courageous women is that they know God’s Promise on their life is a sure victory.

The second characteristic of strong and courageous women is that they know God’s Word is a safe guide. They meditate on it day and night. They don’t turn from it looking to the right or the left. They stand firm on His Word because they know it will guide them to be brave!

If you don’t know how to start immersing yourself in God’s Word, start with our daily Scripture Writing plans. You can find the full list of monthly plans HERE. I started to Inscribe the Word so that I could learn to meditate by writing out the Scriptures, paying attention to each letter and mark I make. Now, hundreds of thousands of people around the world are writing Scriptures with us each month. It is a great place to start.

Maybe you aren’t sure which translation of the Bible to use. We are so blessed because we have sixty-six books, My Friend. Joshua only had five! This post goes through the most popular translations and discusses the good ones and the not-so-good ones to use!

For all of our posts to help you meditate on God’s Word and study the Bible, you can CLICK HERE.