Join pastor, evangelist, and big wave surfer John McCarthy for a six-day journey through the book of Joshua. If you’re in a season of waiting, frustration, or fear, John’s epic surf stories and biblical insight will inspire you to be strong and courageous as you cling to God’s Word and take your next brave step of faith.
Cliffs Of Hope
Day 1
Scriptures: Joshua 1:1-9, Philippians 3:12
Be Strong
I live in the wild west of Ireland where I surf the big waves of the Cliffs of Moher. It takes courage to surf these waves – just like it takes courage to surf the waves of life – and the book of Joshua is an incredible source of insight and inspiration.
As Joshua is commissioned to fill Moses’s sandals, God pinpoints what he needs most: courage. Joshua has witnessed God’s miracles in Egypt and in the wilderness, which surely must’ve bolstered his bravery to face the future. But still, standing on the brink of the Promised Land, he needs all the courage he can scrape together. So God says to him, ‘Be strong and of good courage…’ (Joshua 1:6).
Joshua’s task isn’t going to be easy, but God gives him a threefold victory plan we can follow too. Like Joshua, we’re journeying forward, not necessarily to possess physical land, but to lay hold of all Jesus has for us. Firstly, God repeats His command for Joshua to be strong and courageous. Secondly, God commands Joshua to observe and obey His Word. Thirdly, God commands Joshua never to deviate from that Word.
When I surf, I wear an inflation vest. If a wave forces me under, the vest pops me back up to the surface where I can breathe again. That’s what God’s Word does for us. When we’re submerged by life’s pressures, meditating on God’s Word brings us back up to the surface – back into the presence of God – where we can regain perspective. Another way of thinking about consuming scripture is to look at how cows chew the cud. Instead of hurrying our Bible intake with quick chomping and swallowing, we could ‘chew’ on God’s Word throughout the day – constantly bringing to mind what we’ve been reading. The Bible is God-breathed, inerrant, and authoritative, and we desperately need a healthy diet of it. It has the power to save us and lift us from discouragement.
At this monumental moment in history, God tells Joshua, ‘Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go’ (Joshua 1:9). This incredible encouragement applies to us too. Our strength isn’t human. God is working in and through us, empowering us by the Holy Spirit. Whether the battle you currently face is physical, spiritual, or both, you can face it with renewed strength, knowing God is with you. He sees what’s behind and ahead of you, and His victory plan is clear: He calls you to show up before Him daily, ready to receive the gift of His strength and courage as you meditate on His Word. May you be strong in the knowledge that God is with you, and He has a plan to use your life for His glory. There’s a wave for you to catch!
Day 2
Scriptures: Joshua 2:1-21, Matthew 9:37-38, John 3:16
God’s Heart
We pick up Joshua’s story in chapter 2, where he commissions two spies to go on a dangerous reconnaissance mission to Jericho, a city in the Promised Land. The ensuing events reveal God’s compassion for humanity and His heart as a rescuer.
The Canaanites are a wicked, unrepentant people God has vowed to judge. But among them lives Rahab, a prostitute, who, like everyone else in Jericho, has heard that the Living God is with Israel. Remarkably – in a pagan land – she professes her faith in the one true God, during a conversation with the two spies she’s hiding. In the daring heist carried out by these spies, God mercifully saves Rahab and protects her family. Rahab ends up marrying Salmon of the tribe of Judah and, astoundingly, she’s named in the genealogy of King David and Jesus Christ. Rahab’s salvation shows us God’s love and grace for people from any and every background.
The waves near me at the Cliffs of Moher are often so big that to reach them, surfers are towed out on Jet Skis. Once a Jet Ski driver has dropped off a surfer, they stay nearby, ready to rescue the surfer should they fall. Without quick action, the surfer could get pulled under by the wave or bashed against the rocks. Someone must come to the rescue!
Like the Canaanites, people in our lives are perishing – sinking and drowning in sin – without eternal hope. And God’s heart is that each and every one, like Rahab, be saved. Perhaps it would increase our urgency to share the gospel if we remember we are on a critical rescue mission. We are the Jet Ski drivers, sent to save people. No matter what kind of life someone has lived, it’s God’s great joy to save anyone who believes. Rahab’s story is beautiful proof of this truth. In a world of distractions, may you never lose focus on the part you play in the Great Commission – rescuing others as you have been rescued. And may you continue to be strong and courageous.
Day 3
Scriptures: Joshua 3:1-17, Proverbs 3:5, 2 Corinthians 5:7
Stepping In
In Joshua 3 we read the thrilling story of how God made a way for the Israelites to cross the Jordan River and enter the Promised Land. Their circumstances looked impossible – a river in flood! –yet we can take courage from how God worked mightily and miraculously the moment His people took a step of faith.
As the nation prepares to enter the Promised Land, God instructs them to consecrate themselves, ‘for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you’ (Joshua 3:5). They get their hearts right and ready because it’s time for God to do what He does: the impossible.
The priests bearing the ark are commanded to carry it into the Jordan River as a sign that God is among the people and will give them victory over the nations they’ll imminently confront. For 40 years, God’s people have wandered and wavered, but this is a new beginning and He’s calling this generation to renewed faith. The crossing will look impossible right up until the moment the priests step into the water. Only then will God give them confirmation of His promise, by cutting off the river upstream. God shows the Israelites He always does what He says He’s going to do. He builds their faith and teaches them to rely on Him for each step of their journey into the future.
Then when all the people have crossed, the river miraculously returns to full flood. There’s no going back, and no need to go back because God has crossed over this river of impossibilities with His people. As ever, God’s timing is perfect: the Israelites’ first day in the Promised Land is the 40th anniversary of the first Passover, in Egypt, and they begin life in their new homeland with a celebration.
A while ago, God spoke to me about being more courageous as a surfer. I was terrified, but I stepped up my training. Eventually, the day arrived: a perfect, massive wave presented itself. Praying, I caught it. The moment was captured by two brilliant photographers and the footage was picked up by a mobile phone company who used me to advertise their product (and my business!). I didn’t feel ready when God called me to take that step of faith, but I stepped anyway, and I’ve been blown away by how He has blessed my obedience.
The rule of life in the Promised Land was living by faith, and this is our rule of life too. Every great deed done for God starts with a step of faith – often into impossible circumstances – and you can trust Him to fulfil His promises as you follow His lead.
Day 4
Scriptures: Joshua 6:1-20, 2 Corinthians 2:14
Promised Victory
If you’re familiar with the story of Israel’s victory over Jericho and the unconventional attack plan God lays out for Joshua, it’s possible you’ve lost sight of how heavily the odds were stacked against Israel. Jericho was the most impressively defended city in the land. No one went in, and no one came out. However, the city that should’ve impeded Israel’s advance became their confidence booster. God would miraculously overturn the obstacle in their path to give them the advantage they needed.
It’s no coincidence that the battle strategy involves seven days, seven priests, seven trumpets, and seven times round Jericho on the seventh day. Throughout scripture, seven is presented as God’s perfect number. He uses it at this crucial moment in Israel’s story to remind them He’s in every detail, and it’s all for His glory. They’re not to defeat Jericho using traditional warfare, so God gets 100% of the glory for the victory.
Joshua gives the command, and the march begins, centred on the symbol of God’s power and presence: the ark of the covenant. There’s not much to be said for the first six humdrum days of silent walking around Jericho. On day four or five, God’s people might’ve been thinking, ‘Nothing’s happening! All this pointless walking round and round…’ If you’re waiting for breakthrough in your life, you’ve probably felt the same. But God teaches Israel that strength rises as we wait upon the Lord and learn to do things His way. It’s when we trust and obey that God transforms us more and more into the likeness of Jesus.
Finally, the seventh day dawns. The people march around Jericho seven times. The priests blow the trumpets. Everyone gives a shout of victory. The city walls fall, and the Israelites take Jericho. According to Hebrews 11:30 it was the people’s faith that caused Jericho’s walls to collapse. This incredible story mirrors what God has done for us through the death and resurrection of Jesus, who broke down every barrier between us and the Father, defeating sin and death.
God went ahead of His people, giving them victory over Jericho as they followed His lead. When we put God first and do life His way, the Jericho story becomes our story too. Let’s obey God’s instructions, even when they don’t make sense to us. Let’s learn to wait upon Him. And let’s give thanks that Jesus secures our ultimate victory.
Day 5
Scriptures: Joshua 7:1-26, James 1:14-15, 1 John 1:9
Staying in Strength
In the next chapter of Joshua’s story, we discover that the Israelites feel invincible. They’ve claimed the Jericho victory as their own (not God’s) and this pride derails them. Suddenly they’re facing unexpected defeat. It’s uncomfortable to admit, but the same thing can happen to us.
God’s people are beaten because an enemy within their camp causes havoc. Despite God’s instructions not to plunder the treasures of Jericho – these are to be an offering to Him – Achan has pocketed some precious things for himself. Unaware of this, Joshua forges ahead to take the city of Ai, following his spies’ report that 3,000 men will easily defeat this tiny town. They’re super confident because the Jericho victory is fresh in their minds. As the leader of God’s people, Joshua should pray and seek God’s plan of attack. But he doesn’t. Thirty-six men are killed, and Israel experiences their first loss.
Joshua is devastated and flings himself on the ground in prayer and God effectively reprimands him: Too little, too late! He tells Joshua to get up and get busy cleaning house by dealing with the sin that has infiltrated the camp. The family who stole the devoted things are called out of the crowd, and Joshua begs Achan to confess his sin. For us, too, step one in dealing with sin is confession.
The second step is dealing with the source of the sin. Achan saw, then he coveted, then he took (Joshua 7:21). We’re no different. Our sin follows the same destructive progression. As James explains, we get drawn away from God’s ways by the disordered desires of our heart. The secret to making things right – dealing with the enemy ‘within the camp’ – is confession and prayer.
Once Joshua and the people have dealt with the sin that has led to chaos and defeat, victory for the Israelites is no longer in question. Joshua’s army moves on, wiser and humbler, to again take hold of God-empowered victory. Let’s keep our hearts tender towards the counsel and conviction of the Holy Spirit, confessing, praying, and resting in Jesus’ victory.
Day 6
Scriptures: Joshua 9:1-18, Ephesians 4:27, James 4:7
No Allegiances
In a fallen world, there are tricksters out to scam us daily. But more than these fraudsters, we need to guard against the greatest deceiver of them all, the devil, and protect ourselves from falling for his lies. Where our sinful nature is the enemy within, Satan is the enemy outside of ourselves, bent on deceiving us (Revelation 18:23).
In Joshua 9 we read that word of Israel’s victories has reached the surrounding nations, so a group of cities unite forces to fight Israel. One of those cities, Gibeon, comes up with a crafty plan to dupe Israel’s leaders. Through Moses, God had forbidden Israel from forming allegiances with their neighbours, so the Gibeonites pretend to be from a distant land. The men dress in tattered clothes and carry stale food, so Joshua and the other leaders believe the story that they’re from further afield. The peace treaty these men propose seems like a good idea. Joshua does attempt to figure out where the delegation is from, but he and the other leaders don’t pray for discernment and direction, and things go badly – just as they do for us when we fail to seek God’s opinion on matters in our lives.
The leaders’ error was leaning on their own understanding rather than considering what God said. We too are deceived by the enemy when we go by our senses, rather than living by faith and following God’s Word. We can look to the smartest minds in the world or the media, but let’s not kid ourselves. None of us is above being deceived. Satan calls evil good and good evil. Truth is under attack. In our cultural moment, there’s mounting evidence of all the ways the devil twists the truth about our finances, sexuality, career, social media engagement, and other arenas of life. To shield ourselves from the enemy’s duplicitous ways, Paul urges us to put on the full armour of God and take up the sword of the Spirit, God’s Word (Ephesians 6:10–12).
That’s where we started this journey – with God telling Joshua to be strong and courageous and to meditate on His Word, day and night, following its instructions unwaveringly. Let’s thank God that victory is ours in Christ, and that He gives us the courage to stand.