MEET THE TWINS: COURAGE AND ACTION!

“Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage, be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed,
for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest”
(Joshua 1:9).

I love twins. I am blessed to have twins. I always used to say when my twins were little, “There’s only one thing better than having a baby and that’s having two babies!”

I also love twins in the Bible. Did you know there are many twins in the Bible? Yes, there are physical twins but there are biblical twins such as Faith and Love, Grace and Truth, Peace and Righteousness, and so on. These things dovetail together. They need one another.

Here is another pair that you wouldn’t pick up reading your English Bible but we find them in the Hebrew.

Their names are Asah and Chazaq. God couples them together. You need them working together in your life. Asah is an action word meaning “to do, to make, to take action.” The Bible is an action book. We don’t just read it. We DO it We asah it. This word occurs 2,630 times in the Old Testament. That’s how much God is concerned about action.

Chazaq is a powerful word meaning “to be strong, courageous, valiant, to conquer, to hold fast.”

When God tells us to do something, it’s often something we don’t find easy to do in the natural, therefore we need chazaq to do it. We need courage. We don’t need courage just for the sake of having it. We need courage to asah it, to execute it! We need both these attributes working together.

Courage is far more than an attribute. It is really a muscle that gets stronger with use. If we don’t exercise courage, we atrophy and stay weak and wimpy. It takes courage and effort to do something that is not easy, but even when we only have a little courage, if we exercise it, our muscle courage will grow stronger and we’ll find it easier to do difficult things, to stand up for truth, and to resist evil and tyranny.

I think of the great heroes of the faith in Hebrews 11. Verse 34 tells of those “who out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of aliens.” They didn’t start out strong. They were weak in faith and courage. But as they exercised their courage, they became stronger. They “became strong out of weakness, became mighty in war . . .” (Darby).

Let’s look at some examples:

God chose His servant Joshua to be the leader and commander of the children of Israel as they went in to possess the Promised Land. It sure wasn’t going to be an easy job as they faced giants and “nations greater and mightier than thyself, cities great and fenced up to heaven” (Deuteronomy 9,2) but Moses charged Joshua in Deuteronomy 31:23: “Be strong (chazaq) and of a good courage: for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which I sware unto them: and I will be with thee.”

Joshua encouraged the Israelites in Joshua 23:6: “Be ye therefore very courageous (chazaq) to keep and to do (asah) all that is written in the book of the law of Moses.”

David encouraged Solomon to build the temple in 1 Chronicles 28:20 : “Be strong (chazaq), and of good courage, and do (asah) it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the LORD God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD.”

Ezra exhorted the offenders to put away their foreign wives: “Be of good courage (chazaq) and do (asah) it.”

Do you feel timid to share your faith? Do you feel frightened to be bold for truth? Let’s be those who exercise our courage muscle and take action in doing what is right and what God wants us to do.

Maybe something looms in front of you that is bigger than you. You cannot face it or cope with it in your own strength. Remember that God is bigger than your challenges. Nothing is too hard for Him. Take courage and move forward in the asah/chazaq lifestyle.

PRAYER:

Dear Father God, there are many things I face that are too big for me. I thank You that You are bigger than any problem I face. I trust You. I thank You that I can move ahead with courage knowing that You are with me. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

I have courage because my God is greater than my fears and whatever challenge I face.

Be blessed today, Nancy Campbell

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