Knowing God the Encourager

A change of leadership always requires adjustments. The children of Israel experienced this with King Uzziah in Isiaiah 6, as we studied a few weeks ago. They also experienced it when Moses died. The book of Joshua begins with this comment. "Moses, my servant has died..." (Joshua 1:2). Joshua is waiting, he is available which makes Him usable. All those years of Joshua’s service and training under Moses had prepared Joshua for leadership of an entire nation. Because Joshua was prepared, teachable, and available and eager to know and serve God, he was used to lead the nation of Israel into the Promised Land. The Lord may have a great task or work for us down the road too. Our responsibility is to spiritually prepare ourselves by getting to know God in an intimate way, so that when God appoints us for a specific role, we are ready. This Sunday we will look at how God encouraged Joshua before he took leadership over the nation Israel. This same encouragement is available to us!