Joshua 8:1 And the Lord said unto Joshua, Fear not, neither be thou dismayed: take all the people of war with thee, and arise, go up to Ai: see, I have given into thy hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land.
After the defeat by the city of Ai, Joshua and the people would naturally feel afraid and anxious, down and discouraged. But now the sin has been cleansed out of the camp with the execution of Achan. The Lord comes another time to say, “Fear not, stop feeling discouraged, get up and go again against Ai, for I have given you victory.” Upon hearing the Word of God, Joshua responded with faith, obedience, and courage. Energized by this word from God, he laid down his fears, took up new courage, and did what the Lord said. God’s strategy worked. This time they won: the enemy army and its king were killed and the city burned.
Jesus never fails. It always works when we do it God’s way. There will certainly be times in our life when we fail and fall, lose to the Enemy, when fear and worry sets in, and we become dismayed and discouraged. Then we are reminded of the Gospel. Then fear flees and renewed courage arises. This is our response when we go to church, listen to the gospel, take Communion, and remember that God baptized us. We become discouraged by setbacks in our spiritual warfare with our spiritual enemies (usually caused by sin). That’s when we need to hear an encouraging word from Jesus, and arise and go on to the next victory. We fear not!