“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9
“Since it is so likely that children will meet cruel enemies let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage. Otherwise you are making their destiny not brighter, but darker.”
C.S. Lewis and Walter Hooper. On Stories, and Other Essays on Literature (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1982).
One of the most generous things we can do in hard times is tell stories of knights and courage. There is a seemingly never ending supply of such stories in the Scriptures.
Recently I was teaching and writing about succession planning and the transition between Moses and Joshua. In Numbers 27:15-23, Moses asks God to appoint a successor and God tells him that Joshua is the man! He must give him some of his authority and affirm and commission him before the people.
Moses did as the Lord commanded. What was the result? Texts like Joshua 1:16-17 tell us that the people followed his lead just as they followed Moses. The challenges that Joshua would faced would be great and would require deep faith and a whole lot of courage. He knew of God’s faithfulness from Moses, so he was ready.
When we tell such stories we remind those around us that we can navigate whatever challenges are in front of us because God is with us, just like He was with them.
And Lewis reminds us today that in dark times, such stories actually bring the light that the next generation needs. Tell such stories.