Success Joshua Style

Joshua was afraid to take on the task God called him to do. And who can blame him? Moses, the friend of God, was his predecessor, and he left Joshua with impossible-to-fill shoes. Sure, Joshua had been groomed for his task by Moses and by God. He was a warrior with a proven track record. But this job—this was more than leading battles and military campaigns. This was leading the nation of Israel, leading the very people who, 40 years earlier, were ready to stone him when he encouraged them to enter Canaan because he knew that God was with them (Num. 14:5-10).
We first meet Joshua in Exodus 17:8-13 where he fought against the Amalekites while Moses held his hands up with help from Aaron and Hur. Next, we see him as Moses's assistant. There were times when Moses climbed a mountain to meet with God, and Joshua went with him, waiting while Moses talked with God (Ex. 24:13; 32:17). He had a front row seat to the relationship Moses had with God.
Joshua was a warrior and Moses's assistant. That's what he did, and that’s the role he filled. But underlying those things, Joshua was a man who spent time in God's tent. Exodus 33 tells us that Moses would go out of the camp to the tent of meeting. The Pillar of Cloud would descend and, as verse 11 says, "Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent."
God was not just Moses's God; He was Joshua's God, too. Joshua was a man with his ear attuned to and his roots planted deep in God. That's why when he and Caleb (with ten other men) went into Canaan to spy out the land, they saw the land and the people—even the giants—through God's perspective. They knew their God was stronger and able to give them all that He had promised them. Forty years later, God reassured Joshua of His presence and promises. God would be with them as they entered and took possession of the Promised Land.
Success. The idea of it and the hope for it can consume us. We want to be successful at work, at home, in our marriages, with our children, and in our relationships. God wants us to be successful—truly successful—but His view of it doesn't come with dollar signs, square footage, chrome wheels, or status. Ephesians 2:10 says that God calls each of us to good works that He has planned for us to do. Some of those things can be big and intimidating, or they may be things that we can't do on our own. So how can we be successful when the odds seem to be stacked against us or the calling seems far beyond us?
We can find success the same way Joshua did: in God's presence. God said to Joshua in verse 5, "Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you." Then God gave him some detailed instructions that are still relevant and imperative today.
Joshua 1:7-8 says, "Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success."
The only way Joshua could (and did!) successfully fulfill God's call on his life is still the only way we can fulfill God's call on our lives today. We need to obey God's Word. In order to obey it, we need to be in it—reading and studying it. Not only that, we need to meditate on God's Word and spend time mulling it over. This means we need to take our thoughts captive and turn our thinking to what God says in the Bible. As we dwell on God's word, it transforms us from the inside out and enables us to "do according to all that is written in it."
Reading the Bible → Meditating on it → Mulling it over → Obeying God's Word. That's the path to success.