The bible is extremely clear on the fact that the sinful nature – the flesh is in direct opposition to the spirit. When Christ gave his life on the cross for us, he also redeemed us and gave us new life in him; this new life gave us a new identity and a new purpose. This new identity revealed that we are now part of the kingdom of light (where the spirit rules) and are no longer part of the kingdom of darkness (where the flesh rules). However, since we still live on the earth and are not yet established in our new kingdom, we are in a constant battle with the two natures. I have been reading the Psalms lately and I couldn’t stop but realize indeed just how different the spirit is in comparison to the flesh. One such difference resides in a command from God to hope in Him rather than hoping in one’s self. The command to hope in the Lord is repeated several times in the bible, however what I would like to focus on in this post is its opposition or contradiction to the flesh.
The phrase “be strong and courageous” or “be strong and take heart” is a command given usually within the context of hoping in the Lord (Psalm 27:14; 31:24). I find it interesting to be told to “be strong and courageous” as you wait for the Lord. It begs the question “what sort of courage does one need to have in order to wait for the Lord”? “Why is courage necessary in the course of ‘waiting for Lord’ or ‘hoping in the Lord’”? The answer lies in the understanding of what waiting is and our trust in God. When the Lord told Joshua to be “strong and courageous”, He expected challenges to come Joshua’s way; He expected Joshua to go through resistance from the people of Israel who would not want to go into the Promised Land by conquering it; He expected Joshua to go through circumstances that would have made him fear. So, in a sense, God was preparing Joshua of what was ahead so that when the difficulty arose, he would not surprised. Another reason God told Joshua to be “strong and courageous” is so that Joshua may be careful to obey all His commandments. This tells me that obeying God’s commandments requires courage, it requires strength. The same is true of hoping in the Lord.
The concept of waiting for the Lord is a very intriguing one. In the Psalms, when David tells us to wait for or hope in the Lord, he always says it in a context that would not be natural to do so. For example, in Psalm 27, he says to wait for the Lord in a situation where victory has not happened yet, in a situation where his enemies have besieged him. Being able to wait for the Lord in a situation of turmoil is countercultural, it is opposite our flesh which wants to take matters into its own hands. This is the battle of the flesh versus the spirit we have to be continually fighting, hence the courage and the strength the Lord commands us to have. I must admit that I had never seen the action of waiting or trusting in the Lord as a battle, or at least as an exercise that would require me to get into battle.
If the Lord says to “be strong and take heart” as you hope in Him, it is also because He knows, it will be difficult for us to do so. The famous verse in Habakkuk referring to the prophecy of God to His people says “though it lingers, wait for it” (Habakkuk 2:3b) which is a clear indication that it will be hard to wait as the promise tarries. However, one would think because the Lord has already prepared us we would not have any difficulty waiting or trusting in Him yet this obedience is still very hard to follow. God gives us an advantage, but it is up to us to go back to His words to first know and remember what He has said and second, to act upon what He has said. In God’s words, we are promised to be victorious, in fact the book of Isaiah says that “even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength” (Isaiah 40:30). This means, the Lord himself provides for the strength of His weary saints. Did He not say, He will not leave us nor forsake us? Did He not say to call upon Him in our distress and He will answer? Did He not say that His burden is light and His yoke easy (Matthew 11:30)? Did He not say that His commands are not burdensome (1 John 5:3)? Since the kingdom of God is a kingdom of war and it is the strong that takes it by force (Matthew 11:12), let us not forget that we are indeed in a battlefield and that every command the Lord asks of us will require us to put on our warrior mindset and armour otherwise, we will be like the king who goes into battle without evaluating the cost (Luke 14:28).
A Word Aptly Spoken 