In a day and age, where positive behavior is rewarded, we often attempt to fulfill what we have been commanded to do in order to reap the rewards of what is promised to us. When the mantle of leadership passed from Moses to Joshua, the Lord promised Joshua affirming His presence (I will be with you), prosperity (I will not fail you), and pursuit (I will not forsake you) and commanded him to “Be strong and of good courage”.  Many times, in our Christian walk, we attempt to be strong and of good courage, anticipating that God will be with us and not fail nor forsake us, but did you notice, that God’s order is not that the promise follows the command, but the other way round. The Lord promised Joshua and then commanded him, i.e., you can say, that the conversation between Joshua and the Lord was more like God saying to Joshua “I will be with you, I will not fail you, nor will I forsake you [so you can] Be strong and of good courage”.

God’s promise proceeds before His command and so next time you and I feel like we are being commanded to do something for the Lord, let us seek first to see what His promise is that precedes the command. Because the reward of God’s presence, prosperity and pursuit arrives before His command, following His commands should be as a result of the reward and not for the sake of the reward. In God’s order, it is not commands and then promises but promises and then commands!

Joshua 1:5-6 (KJV)
5 There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
6 Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them.