Discovering Success in the Bible: The Verse Before the Promise

Do you ever do that thing where when your pastor says what book and chapter to turn to for a sermon, you try to guess what verse he's going to use? Just me? It's a fun little game…and maybe I'm a nerd.

If I asked you to turn to Joshua chapter 1, what verse would you think I was going to reference? I'm guessing you would say Joshua 1:9. If you've spent much time in church, you probably know Joshua 1:9 by heart:

"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."

It's one of those verses that ends up on mugs, journals, and wall art—and for good reason. I think it's a verse many people choose for their life verse. It's comforting. It's powerful.

Three times in four verses right here, God says to Joshua "be strong and of a good courage…be strong and very courageous…be strong and of a good courage." And we know that when God repeats something, it means we really need to pay attention. And if that wasn't quite enough, He then adds "be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed."

I mean…do you sense a theme?

The Verse I'd Been Missing

But can I tell you something I realized not too long ago? I had been quoting verse 9 for years…and completely glossing over verse 8.

Joshua 1:8 says:

"This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success."

Which brings me to one of my favorite pieces of Bible trivia, which I learned a few years ago. There's a word here that our culture likes to focus on. Wealth. Status. A good career. A beautiful family. Biscuits that don't taste like rocks when you try to bake them from scratch.

"Success."

That word, "success"—it only appears once in the entire Bible.

Isn't that something?

But did you catch it? The one time God uses the word success, He ties it directly to our interaction with His Word.

A Change in Leadership

When we encounter Joshua in this passage, Moses has just died. Joshua is stepping into enormous shoes. He's been Moses' assistant for years—he's seen the miracles, the failures, the frustrations—and now, the responsibility of leadership rests on him.

He's facing the Jordan River. Across it lies a vast, unknown land to conquer. Behind him stands the entire nation of Israel.

I imagine he felt the weight of that moment: leading God's people, fulfilling promises, conquering nations, and trying to follow in the footsteps of a man who spoke with God face to face and came down the mountain shining so bright reflecting the glory of God that he had to wear a veil over his head.

I think I can safely say he was probably intimidated…because if he wasn't, would God need to tell him three times right here to be strong and courageous?

If ever there was a time for Joshua to say "ok, God, how on earth is this going to happen?", this was it.

Success in the Bible: God's Unexpected Answer

And God told him—but not the way we might expect.

He didn't say, "Here's how to lead My people effectively," or "Here's how to win battles against giants."

He said, "Keep My Word in your mouth. Think about it day and night. Live it out. That's how you'll have good success."

Success wasn't about military power, or Joshua's job performance as the successor to Moses, or even the wealth of the land of promise.

It was about the faithfulness of presence—the presence of God's Word in Joshua's speech, his thoughts, and his obedience. And the knowledge that as Joshua faithfully lived that out, he could count on the presence of God to be with him as he took that first step over the Jordan into the promised land, and every step thereafter.

In Part 2, we'll explore what this looks like in our everyday lives—and how God's definition of success might be radically different from what we've been chasing. What does faithfulness look like for the sake of being faithful?