After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant: ‘Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the River Jordan into the land I am about to give to them – to the Israelites. I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates – all the Hittite country – to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. No-one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. ‘Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 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.’
Joshua 1:1-9 NIVUK
In 2001, I made a bit of an error of judgement: I travelled to the Philippines during typhoon season. I told myself, 'It'll be fine. It can't be worse than a windy day in Glasgow' and got on the plane.
Euphemistically, let's say I slightly miscalculated.
I experienced a small one in Cebu. That typhoon was actually weaker than a windy day in Glasgow. So you can imagine that I was wondering what all the fuss was about.
Days later, I experienced a much bigger typhoon in Ormoc City. I'd gone to pick up my wife-to-be from work, where she was doing the accounts of a pineapple plantation. It was raining outside. But that was no biggie. I'm Scottish. We don't dissolve.
But then the water on the road started to get deeper. And deeper. I could see motorbikes and cars sloshing through it. And the wind picked up. Soon passing traffic was generating a bow wave.
I remember telling her, 'Darling, I think we should go now...'
We packed up and ran outside, jumping on the first motorcycle rickshaw ('put-put') we could find that was heading towards the city centre (most were heading in the opposite direction).
You see, our first priority was to find shelter in a safe building. And, since one of my wife's clients was Ormoc's oldest hotel, we went straight there and borrowed a first floor room, away from where floodwaters might come.
And we thought we were safe. But then the wind picked up again. It started to tease at the edges of the corrugated tin roof of a nearby building. Then it teased a little too hard for our liking. Bolts came loose. The roof started to vibrate. And then it flapped. And the flapping got louder and louder.
That's when the realisation hit that we were not safe. We had to leave. Our priorities had changed again.
We ran downstairs, dropped our room keys with the desk clerk and splashed through knee-high and fast-flowing water, gushing down the streets like a river, and past the huge waves smashing over sea wall, until we reached the bus station.
We silently prayed our thanks to God. A jeepney headed in the direction of my wife's home village was in the bus station. We clambered inside and the driver drove off.
To this day, I wonder how he did it. The water was deep - almost axle height. But jeepneys and their drivers are incredibly tough. He skilfully manoevered that ancient vehicle through the flood and got us out of there.
When you are in a tough situation, the last thing you should do is panic. Instead, you need to plan. You need to find a way out of there. That's why every health and safety demonstration I've ever been to, whether it's in a plane, cruise ship, office or hotel, always said the same thing: 'Stay calm. Don't panic.'
Part of planning is to set your priorities: to determine what is important to you and to plot your course.
And that is exactly what these verses are all about. Joshua is in a very difficult situation with an almost impossible act to follow. The one thing he needs is a plan.
God gives him that plan by ensuring he has the right priorities. Joshua needs to focus on leading - on being the type of leader his people need. He needs to focus on following - on following God by following His Word as revealed through Moses. And he needs to focus on being - on making sure that his character is right before God and men, that he is the right man for the job.
Joshua's call is one we all must heed at the turn of the year, and, indeed, every day. The past we once lived, with its highs and lows, is gone. We must learn from it, of course, but we must also move on. God's grace and His blessings are not just for yesterday. They have a use-by date:
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.’
Lamentations 3:22-24 NIVUK
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matthew 6:33-34 NIVUK
Each day has enough blessing and enough trouble. We are not to either live in the past or fret away our future. We must stay focused on today: on leading and being a positive influence, on following and obeying God and being the kind of people who truly glorify Him.
Maybe 2021 was a good year for you. Maybe it wasn't.
Quite a few years ago, I had a really bad year at work. I had made a small mistake that had spiralled. I'd wanted to be known as some kind of likeable expert who would help people. Instead I was known as someone who couldn't do anything right and would wreck things for everyone. One of my senior managers even described my little error - which cost the company nothing at all - as 'career-limiting'.
I was down. I was hurting. I couldn't see any way out. I was getting ready for the new year. I stared into our bathroom mirror. I could see tears forming in my eyes. I wiped my face and told myself, 'This year is almost over. It's gone. Next year you'll show them who you are and what you can do.'
I repriorisited how I would work. Instead of depending on technical skills, I focused on just doing my 'day' job well.
For months, nothing happened. Then I discovered a big mistake that someone else had made which, if it wasn't fixed, would cost the company a lot of money. I told my boss. He asked me to fix it, which I did, using some technical skills, faster than anyone else could have done it.
Overnight, I went from zero to hero. Most people smiled when they saw me. They asked for my help. I was given special projects to do. And within eighteen months I was promoted twice.
All it took was for me to set the past behind me and to set my sail for the future. This is something every human being must do. But in Joshua, we Christians have a great example in how to do it.
Regardless of how our last year was, we have the chance to reset our priorities and go again. This is a life-changing opportunity, if we take it. So let's not think for one second that everything will stay the same. If we take the time to reset our priorities to focusing on leading, following and being the best we can be for God, then who knows what blessings the coming year will bring?
God is our refuge and strength a very present help in times of trouble.