From Calculated to Confident

 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. Joshua 1:3-6

Men thrive on risk assessment. Ponder for a moment how frequently you assess risk.

I cut down a tree in my yard last weekend. It was a pine tree that stood taller than my single story house. Far shorter than the maple tree that towers over the house and the yard, this tree is much less imposing. The problem with it was the 45-degree angle that it grew to escape the shade cast by the maple tree. That and it was in the way of a yard renovation. To take it down, I knew I would have to fell this tree the opposite direction it was leaning to avoid property damage. So, I used a few ratcheting straps and put tension on it the other way. What could go wrong? I calculated the risk but based on how fast I ran when it started to fall; I was not very confident.

Calculating risk rarely breeds confidence, especially when the odds are not in your favor. Look closely at Joshua’s situation. He’s a new leader, has an untested army, and is facing the hometown team on their turf. Not to mention many of those foes were giant war-mongering human beings. The calculation here does not add up. So why was he confident? Joshua was confident not in the lop-sided nature of the situation, but in God. He believed God would do what He promised.

DO THIS TODAY: Confidently obey God in a way that does not humanly add up.