Strength and Courage

From the time I was eight or nine until I was fifteen years old, I was involved in the Boy Scouts of Canada. I learned more about persistence, leadership and courage under difficult circumstances than I did anywhere else in my youth. In my last year of involvement, our much respected scout master resigned and was replaced by another very interesting character in my young life. This man had a middle European accent and some very unique skills. He taught us much about surviving in the worst of outdoor circumstances and was an amazing example of courage.

Roman had immigrated to Canada by way of the United States after the Second World War from the Czech Republic, then called Czechoslovakia. In 1939 his reaction to the Nazi occupation and threat to his homeland was to join the Czech underground movement. Because of his hunting and outdoor survival skills, learned as a child, he was immediately drafted into moving intelligence that would eventually reach the American forces by way of the Black Forest. How he made his way through Austria and/or Hungary in order to reach the forested rectangle of 200 Kilometres by 60 kilometres in southwest Germany was never completely explained. Before the war was over, he actually worked directly with and for the American Army. The Black Forest was a heavily guarded frontier bordering on neutral Switzerland. Being caught crossing over resulted in being immediately shot or even worse, being questioned and then hanged. He spent days and nights hiding within a few feet of German guards. He could only move at night and often the journey was slow and difficult. I can’t even imagine the courage required to withstand years of such danger. I suspect strongly so many years later that a strong faith in God had to be part of that fortitude.

Another brave warrior found within the pages of the Bible has left us a record of how God bolstered his courage. A good friend recently ended an uplifting email message with this thought just the other day. In Joshua 1: 6-9 we read the following.

"Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.
7 "Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.
8 "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe 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.
9 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."

Joshua was charged with the responsibility to lead the Children of Israel into the Promised Land of Canaan. It seemed to most that conquering the land was impossible. Indeed it was impossible without the love and power of the God of the universe. God tells Joshua three times to be strong and to be courageous. He tells him something to which we should pay very close attention. He tells him to know and to adhere to the Word of God at all times. The LORD also promises to be with Joshua, and indeed all believers, wherever we go. In verse 5 we find the greatest comfort of all:

5 … I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. (Joshua 1:5)

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