Projection

Joshua 1:17-18 “Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you. Only may the LORD your God be with you as he was with Moses. Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey it, whatever you may command them, will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous!”

We see it all that time, people placing their own feelings and thoughts onto other people. This is where so many misunderstandings come from in our world. We assume that we know what the other person is thinking and feeling and we react to those assumptions rather than asking for the real thing.

We almost always get things wrong in these situations. Our own projections influence our own reactions. We believe the thing we are making up, and our reactions don’t take that into account.

It is as if we are watching a movie and we react to what we are seeing as if it were real, rather than just a movie. Our brains sometimes get caught up and cry over sad things we are seeing. We get excited when our movie team of underdogs wins the championship. We allow ourselves to suspend reality and go with the flow.

But this can be dangerous in real life relationships. We need to stay grounded in reality. We need to seek out the actual facts, not just rely on our own internal, or selected sources of feedback. We need the facts.

Israel is about to take the Promised Land from the current inhabitants by force. And they have a new, untested leader Joshua. Moses, the tried and true, has just died. They have mourned for him, and have to move forward. They knew what to expect from Moses. He had been willing to give up his life in order to save them. What would this new guy Joshua do for them?

I our text, in the previous verses, the LORD has told Joshua to be strong and courageous three separate times. And Joshua has just conveyed that fact to all the people. Was there a need in Joshua for the pep talk?

And now the people are lining up behind Joshua to follow him into battle, into seizing the Promise of the LORD. In our text they pledge perfect obedience to what Joshua says. Wow, that is a tall order, one they had failed so many times before.

But they are not strong in their own trust in the LORD. And this is despite the many times they have seen the LORD’s physical presence at the Tent of Meeting and as the guiding pillar as they wandered through desert for forty years. They saw the evidence of the LORD’s presence, and they still rebelled.

They lack courage to face the enemy. They lack strength to trust the LORD. So what do they do, the want their leader to have the strength and courage they themselves lack but desire.

But strength and courage are things we need, not just in our leaders, but in ourselves. Leaders are only as strong and courageous as the people are. They can not out perform their followers by much. They can be strong and courageous, but not too much more than those who follow, otherwise the leader will seem unreal and unapproachable.

So the people want a strong and courageous leader. But that won’t solve the problem unless they themselves are strong and courageous. A strong leader is weak with a weak people.

Let us be strong and courageous for Christ. May we take a stand and not yield. In the face of opposition, may we boldly proclaim the peace found in Jesus, not just with our words, but with our countenance and actions.

Be strong and courageous!