- Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. 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. Joshua 1.6-7 (ESV)
In the first few months of 1940, with the fate of France uncertain and the threat of Nazi Germany imminent, Britain withdrew its troops from mainland Europe. It was one of the most massive retreats in military history. On May 26, over 330,000 Allied troops began the dangerous withdrawal across the English Channel on thousands of privately owned, small boats.
In the euphoric aftermath, England celebrated as if they had won a great battle, but their exodus was misleading. Victory had not been secured. Defeat had only been avoided.
In an attempt to temper such ill-found confidence, Prime Minister Winston Churchill stood behind the podium of the House of Commons on June 4, and sounded a sober note of reality. No victory could be claimed. “Wars are not won by evacuations!” he admonished.
Historians considered it one of the greatest speeches ever delivered; a message worth a thousand guns, many said. Stoic lawmakers were reduced to tears, even Churchill, himself.
The Prime Minister rallied Englishmen to courageously defend their island to the death. As Churchill concluded his now-famous address, he deliberately sought to infuse a defiant spirit into his fellow countrymen when he said:
We shall not flag nor fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.
Wars are never won by evacuations! Victory is never achieved by delaying the struggle. Destinations are never reached by putting off the journey. Moving forward in faith requires taking action. The Father has created us for destinations of life and peace. The psalmist wrote…
- You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalms 16:11
However, we must begin the most courageous journeys of life to arrive at the most glorious destinations. The consequence is an abandoned future. We either move boldly into the future or evacuate to the past.
That was Joshua’s story, too. For 40 years, he had been traveling with a nation that had been wandering in the wilderness, rather than marching into their future. They had been stuck in a moment that they couldn’t escape and were incessantly tempted to evacuate to the past, rather than enter the Promised Land. However, it was Joshua the leader boldly following the commandment of the Lord, who led them into a destiny, which God had promised. Together they stepped into their future.